An organotellurium compound with antioxidant activity against excitotoxic agents without neurotoxic effects in brain of rats

The glutamatergic system is an important target in many neurodegenerative diseases and for several neurotoxic drugs. Organotellurium compounds are often very good free radical scavengers’ agents. Recently, we reported that diethyl-2-phenyl-2-tellurophenyl vinylphosphonate is a compound with low toxicity in vitro and in vivo, as well as also possesses antioxidant activity against iron-induced lipid peroxidation. The aim of this study was to evaluate in vitro the antioxidant and mitochondrial protective effect of this organotellurium compound against quinolinic acid (QA) and sodium nitroprusside (SNP), and to evaluate the in vitro actions of this organotellurium compound in the glutamatergic system in brain of rats. We observed that the telluro vinylphosphonate possess an antioxidant activity against QA and SNP at micromolar concentrations. When tested at antioxidant concentrations (from 2 to 10 μM), the compound does not affect the mitochondrial viability and [3H]glutamate uptake in slices from cerebral cortex, hippocampus and striatum, [3H]glutamate release from synaptosomal preparations and [3H]glutamate binding in membrane preparation. Our data suggest that the telluro vinylphosphonate act as an antioxidant in the central nervous system in vitro with no effects on the glutamatergic system; nevertheless more studies in different models of brain injury must be performed in order to corroborate our findings.