Protection of polyunsaturated fatty acids against iron-dependent lipid peroxidation by a Ginkgo biloba extract (EGb 761).

Iron can induce a peroxidative degradation of the membrane polyunsaturated fatty acids by the well-known Fenton reaction. Chelated iron can also form a complex with oxygen, called perferryl ion, which is able to induce lipoperoxidation without a detectable production of hydroxyl radicals. The antioxidant properties of a titrated and standardized extract of Ginkgo biloba leaves (EGb 761) against iron-dependent peroxidative degradation of the membrane polyunsaturated fatty acids were studied. Rat liver microsomes were exposed to a mixture of NADPH, ADP and FeCl3 hypothesized to produce iron-oxygen complexes. The results of the analysis of the microsomal polyunsaturated fatty acids by gas chromatography show that the susceptibility to peroxidation of the different polyunsaturated fatty acids increases with their unsaturation level, and that EGb 761 protects these membrane polyunsaturated fatty acids regardless of their susceptibility to peroxidation. This protective effect is correlated with the decrease in the thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances concentration, but the calculation of the antioxidant potency of EGb 761 as an IC50 value using results of the thiobarbituric acid reaction leads to an underestimated evaluation when the reaction is carried out in the presence of iron ions.