Antioxidative activity of indenestrol A, a diethylstilbestrol metabolite

To elucidate the various activities of synthetic estrogens, the antioxidative activities of diethylstilbestrol (DES) and related metabolic analogs were examined. The antioxidative activities were assessed in terms of the inhibitory effect on Fe2+(-) and ascorbic acid-induced peroxidation of egg phosphatidylcholine (egg PC), and also superoxide scavenging ability using cyclic voltammetry. Moreover, after in vivo administration of the test compounds to mice, the animals were subjected to hyperoxia, and catalase, glutathione peroxidase and superoxide dismutase activities in the brain, lungs and liver were measured. The results indicated that indenestrol A, one of the metabolites of DES, had the strongest antioxidative activity among the test compounds under both in vivo and in vitro conditions.