Anti-inflammatory and pro-apoptotic activities of chlorinated flavonoids in human neutrophils

Flavonoids have been suggested as potential therapeutic agents due to their ability avoid tissue damage resulting from inflammatory processes. Flavonoids are known to react with hypochlorous acid produced by neutrophils, to form stable mono and dichlorinated products. However, in spite of the possible production of these products at inflammatory sites, little is known about their potential biological activity. In this study, we investigated the effect of chlorinated flavonoids and their parent compounds in neutrophils' oxidative burst and in its lifespan. The obtained results demonstrate that chlorinated flavonoids were more efficient than their parent compounds in modulating neutrophils' oxidative burst in phorbol myristate acetate-activated neutrophils. Some of the tested flavonoids induce neutrophil apoptosis in a caspase 3-dependent fashion. The present data showed that some of the tested favonoids constitute an alternative anti-inflammatory therapy, due to the proven ability to suppress mechanisms engaged at the onset and progression of inflammation.