Methoxy VO-salen complex: In vitro antioxidant activity, cytotoxicity evaluation and protective effect on CCl4-induced oxidative stress in rats

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) play crucial roles in normal physiological processes. However, the overproduction of ROS is involved in the onset of many degenerative diseases. Regarding this fact, discovery of new antioxidants is interesting for many research groups. In this study, we evaluated the antioxidant properties of a methoxy VO-salen (MetVO-salen) complex employing various in vitro systems. In addition, the cytotoxic effect of MetVO-salen was assessed based on MTT in treated K562 cells. In an in vivo approach, the protective effect of MetVO-salen against CCl4-induced oxidative stress in rats was also investigated in terms of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activities, as well as in terms of the levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) and glutathione (GSH). Our results indicated that MetVO-salen has an effective capability in scavenging superoxide (O2−) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) radicals in a dose-dependent manner. In vivo results also showed that the administration of MetVO-salen to the CCl4-treated rats caused a significant (222%) increase in SOD activity, a 59% enhancement in GSH content and a 31% decrease in the level of MDA compared to the CCl4-treated control rats. Overall, MetVO-salen appears to be an effective antioxidant and is quite suitable for further biological evaluation.