Antioxidant action of sugar-pendant C60 fullerenes

The action of C60 fullerene and its derivatives as a radical-scavenging antioxidant has received much attention, but their reactivity toward free radicals and antioxidant capacity have not been well elucidated yet. In the present study, the reactivity of the two types of water-soluble, sugar-pendant C60 fullerenes, C60-1S and C60-2S, toward peroxyl radical and their effect against human plasma lipid peroxidation were measured. The rate constants for the reaction of C60-1S and C60-2S with peroxyl radicals were obtained from their effect on the bleaching of beta-carotene in lipid-SDS micelle system as 4.6 x 10(3) and 8.0 x 10(3) M(-1) s(-1) at 37 degrees C, respectively. They inhibited the free radical-induced lipid peroxidation in human plasma in a concentration-dependent manner. These results suggest that the sugar-pendant fullerenes C60-1S and C60-2S act as a radical-scavenging antioxidant with the activity similar to the phenolic antioxidants.