Synthesis and antioxidant efficiency of a new copolymer containing phosphorylated myo-inositol

New data are constantly gathered to show the role of oxidative stress and the involvement of reactive oxygen species in the pathogenesis of degenerative diseases. InsP6 is able to coordinate iron metal in order to prevent iron-catalyzed free radical formation. The aim of the present paper is to describe a new synthetic strategy in order to prepare a polymeric structure containing chemical functions able to coordinate iron ions. Here, we report the synthesis of a copolymer containing phosphorylated myo-inositol groups and we evaluate its antioxidant efficiency. Such a system was synthesized by binding chemical groups susceptible of radical polymerization to myo-inositol. The synthesized monomer was copolymerized with N,N-dimethylacrylamide (DMAA) (molar ratio 1:3) and submitted to exhaustive phosphorylation. The reaction was proved by an assay specific for phosphate groups. Finally, we evaluated the copolymer's ability in inhibiting lipid peroxidation in rat liver microsomal membranes. This study showed that the designed macromolecular system is particularly effective as antioxidant.