Interaction between sodium 5,6-benzylidene-L-ascorbate and gallic acid

The interaction between sodium 5,6-benzylidene-L-ascorbate (SBA) and gallic acid was investigated by two different parameters: radical intensity and cytotoxicity induction. These compounds produced ESR signals of radicals under alkaline conditions. The addition of increasing concentrations of SBA completely scavenged the gallate radical and replaced the latter with its ascorbate radical. On the other hand, gallic acid dose-dependently enhanced the radical intensity of SBA. Both of these two compounds dose-dependently reduced the viable cell number of human squamous carcinoma HSC-2 cells without inducing internucleosomal DNA cleavage. Electron micrographs of the dying cells demonstrate the irreversible degenerative changes especially in the cytoplasm of the cells. The cytotoxic activity of gallic acid was almost completely eliminated by catalase, whereas SBA was totally insensitive to catalase. When these two compounds were mixed together before adding to HSC-2 cells, the cytotoxic activity of gallic acid was significantly reduced by SBA, whereas that of SBA was not reduced by gallic acid. SBA dose-dependently reduced the gallate oxidation in the culture medium. The interaction between SBA and gallic acid may modify their individual biological activity.