Determination of antioxidative potentials of Acanthopanax sessiliflorus (Rupr. & Maxim.) Seem. in differentiated HL-60 cells

A compound with proven antioxidant activities, AE-7-CII, was isolated and purified from the ethanol extract of Acanthopanax sessiliflorus (Rupr. & Maxim.) Seem. (Araliaceae), using a sequential procedure consisting of silica gel column chromatography, thin-layer chromatography and preparative HPLC. In the presence of AE-7-CII, profound inhibitory effects against the generation of 12-O-tetradecanolyphorbol-13-acetate (TPA)-induced superoxide anion radicals ( O 2 - ) and the formation of hydrogen peroxide were observed in differentiated HL-60 cells. This suggests that the isolated compound functions as an effective O 2 - generation inhibitor. The inhibitory effects of AE-7-CII were shown to occur in a concentration-dependent manner, with an IC50 value of 12.5 μg/ml. Also, when the radical-scavenging activity of AE-7-CII was compared to those of commercially available synthetic or natural antioxidants, AE-7-CII was shown to exert a more profound scavenging effect than did any of the natural antioxidants. Results indicated that the compound purified from A. sessiliflorus (Rupr. & Maxim.) Seem. possessed an antioxidative profile that identified it as both an O 2 - inhibitor and scavenger.