Flavonoids Reduce Lipid Peroxides and Increase Glutathione Levels in Pooled Human Liver Microsomes (HLMs)

The effects of each of the flavonoids; genistein (G), quercetin (Q) and kaempferol (K) at several doses on lipid peroxides (LP) and reduced glutathione (GSH) in pooled human liver microsomes (HLMs) were investigated following the oxidative damage for 4, 6, 18 and 24 hr. HLMs (1 mg/ml) were exposed to each of the above flavonoids at 0, 5, 10, 15, 20 or 25 μM and incubated for the respective times as previously stated. Our hypothesis was that HLMs exposed to the flavonoids for the respective exposure times can decrease LP and increase GSH in HLMs to better cope with the oxidative stress. The results of our studies indicate that each of the flavonoids significantly (p < 0.01) decreased LP compared to their respective controls. The highest decrease in LP was observed for K followed by Q and G. Significant increases (p < 0.01) in GSH were observed for the flavonoid doses tested with the highest levels observed for Q for the 24-hr. incubation. The findings suggest that the flavonoids modulate oxidative stress in HLMs by decreasing LP and such decreases in LPs may be due to the increasing and or the replenished levels of GSH in the said cells to better cope with the oxidative stress.