Protective role of dietary polyphenols in oxidative stress

The oxidative break down of the membrane polyunsaturated fatty acids is known to be accompanied by the formation of a complex mixture of lipidhydroperoxides and secondary products. These compounds are highly reactive and are capable of rapid reaction with cellular nucleophiles such as phospholipids and proteins, and it was found that these reaction products are candidates as impotant biomarkers to evaluate antioxidative activity of dietary antioxidants. The author has been involved in developing immunochemical detection methods for oxidative stress by application of polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies. From the hypothesis that endogenous antioxidants in plants must play an important role for antioxidative defense systems from oxidative stress, an intensive search for novel type of natural antioxidants has been carried out from numerous plant materials, including those used as foods, and we have isolated and identified a number of lipid-soluble and water-soluble dietary antioxidants from crop seeds, sesame seeds and some spices. In this paper, the recent progress of research on functions of dietary antioxidants is reviewed.