Comparative study on the antioxidant and anti-Toxoplasma activities of vanillin and its resorcinarene derivative

Molecules. 2014 May 7;19(5):5898-912. doi: 10.3390/molecules19055898.

Abstract

A resorcinarene derivative of vanillin, resvan, was synthesized and characterized by spectroscopic techniques. We measured the cytotoxicity (in vivo and in vitro), antioxidant and anti-Toxoplasma activities of vanillin and the resorcinarene compound. Here we show that vanillin has a dose-dependent behavior with IC50 of 645 µg/mL through an in vitro cytotoxicity assay. However, we could not observe any cytotoxic response at higher concentrations of resvan (IC50 > 2,000 µg/mL). The in vivo acute toxicity assays of vanillin and resvan exhibited a significant safety margin indicated by a lack of systemic and behavioral toxicity up to 300 mg/kg during the first 30 min, 24 h or 14 days after administration. The obtained derivative showed greater antioxidative activity (84.9%) when comparing to vanillin (19.4%) at 1,000 μg/mL. In addition, vanillin presents anti-Toxoplasma activity, while resvan does not show that feature. Our findings suggest that this particular derivative has an efficient antioxidant activity and a negligible cytotoxic effect, making it a potential target for further biological investigations.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antioxidants / chemistry*
  • Antioxidants / pharmacology
  • Benzaldehydes / chemistry*
  • Benzaldehydes / pharmacology
  • Calixarenes / chemistry*
  • Humans
  • Phenylalanine / analogs & derivatives*
  • Phenylalanine / chemistry
  • Plant Extracts / chemistry
  • Plant Extracts / pharmacology
  • Toxoplasma / drug effects*
  • Toxoplasma / pathogenicity
  • Toxoplasmosis / drug therapy*
  • Toxoplasmosis / pathology

Substances

  • Antioxidants
  • Benzaldehydes
  • Plant Extracts
  • resorcinarene
  • Calixarenes
  • Phenylalanine
  • vanillin