Creating aritifical antioxidants?

[CloudChamber]

Is is possible to artifically sythesize antioxidants? I'm wondering whether it is at least plausible. I'm sorry if this is the wrong section, I'm not sure where it should go.
Thanks all!

 

[Mike H]

When you refer to artificially synthesizing antioxidants, are you referring to:

1.) synthesizing known antioxidants (like ascorbic acid AKA vitamin C) in a laboratory with purely chemical means;

2.) synthesizing new molecules which would have antioxidant properties;

or

3.) both in some combination?

Certainly, (1) is possible and quite doable. In principle, (2) is also possible, although no one I know can guarantee that a proposed molecule would be safe and effective in humans. If they did, they'd write up how they can figure that out, gain fame and glory, and get invited to Stockholm to receive a gold medal and a nice chunk of change. In reality, one would need to test a new molecule's efficiency and safety (among other things).

 

[Ryan_m_b]

In principle, (2) is also possible, although no one I know can guarantee that a proposed molecule would be safe and effective in humans. If they did, they'd write up how they can figure that out, gain fame and glory, and get invited to Stockholm to receive a gold medal and a nice chunk of change. In reality, one would need to test a new molecule's efficiency and safety (among other things).

I doubt it would be that significant, despite what the [strike]health[/strike]food industry advertises there is little evidence that antioxidant supplements are beneficial to health and can in fact be more harmful;

Antioxidant supplements for prevention of mortality in healthy participants and patients with various diseases
Goran Bjelakovic, Dimitrinka Nikolova, Lise Lotte Gluud, Rosa G Simonetti, Christian Gluud
Editorial Group: Cochrane Hepato-Biliary Group
Published Online: 14 MAR 2012

Previous research on animal and physiological models suggests that antioxidant supplements have beneficial effects that may prolong life. Some observational studies also suggest that antioxidant supplements may prolong life, whereas other observational studies demonstrate neutral or harmful effects. Our Cochrane review from 2008 demonstrated that antioxidant supplements seem to increase mortality. This review is now updated.

The present systematic review included 78 randomised clinical trials. In total, 296,707 participants were randomised to antioxidant supplements (beta-carotene, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E, and selenium) versus placebo or no intervention. Twenty-six trials included 215,900 healthy participants. Fifty-two trials included 80,807 participants with various diseases in a stable phase (including gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, neurological, ocular, dermatological, rheumatoid, renal, endocrinological, or unspecified diseases). A total of 21,484 of 183,749 participants (11.7%) randomised to antioxidant supplements and 11,479 of 112,958 participants (10.2%) randomised to placebo or no intervention died. The trials appeared to have enough statistical similarity that they could be combined. When all of the trials were combined, antioxidants may or may not have increased mortality depending on which statistical combination method was employed; the analysis that is typically used when similarity is present demonstrated that antioxidant use did slightly increase mortality (that is, the patients consuming the antioxidants were 1.03 times as likely to die as were the controls). When analyses were done to identify factors that were associated with this finding, the two factors identified were better methodology to prevent bias from being a factor in the trial (trials with ‘low risk of bias’) and the use of vitamin A. In fact, when the trials with low risks of bias were considered separately, the increased mortality was even more pronounced (1.04 times as likely to die as were the controls). The potential damage from vitamin A disappeared when only the low risks of bias trials were considered. The increased risk of mortality was associated with beta-carotene and possibly vitamin E and vitamin A, but was not associated with the use of vitamin C or selenium. The current evidence does not support the use of antioxidant supplements in the general population or in patients with various diseases.

 

[CYP450]

Is is possible to artifically sythesize antioxidants? I'm wondering whether it is at least plausible. I'm sorry if this is the wrong section, I'm not sure where it should go.
Thanks all!

Yes, my biochem professor was part of a research team that made artificial glutathione, a tripeptide antioxidant, from ordinary OTC amino acids in the UK back in the 80s; it was actually donated to victims of the Chernobyl disaster to neutralize free radicals generated in their bodies by the radiation.

β-carotene has also been artificially synthesized.

 

[CYP450]

I doubt it would be that significant, despite what the [strike]health[/strike]food industry advertises there is little evidence that antioxidant supplements are beneficial to health and can in fact be more harmful

This is potentially true; I know a girl who's doing research on free radicals as signalling molecules in stem-cell differentiation. She believe that over use of antioxidants might actually retard some of these processes.

 

[Mike H]

I doubt it would be that significant, despite what the [strike]health[/strike]food industry advertises there is little evidence that antioxidant supplements are beneficial to health and can in fact be more harmful;

Point taken - I read the question being more about the capabilities of synthetic chemistry being able to produce (fairly) large biologically active molecules. As long as it's not maitotoxin or something equally fiendish, of course.

 

[bobze]

I doubt it would be that significant, despite what the [strike]health[/strike]food industry advertises there is little evidence that antioxidant supplements are beneficial to health and can in fact be more harmful;

Antioxidant supplements for prevention of mortality in healthy participants and patients with various diseases
Goran Bjelakovic, Dimitrinka Nikolova, Lise Lotte Gluud, Rosa G Simonetti, Christian Gluud
Editorial Group: Cochrane Hepato-Biliary Group
Published Online: 14 MAR 2012

There was just an article that popped up on my doc alerts the other day about a head to head, DB RCT in some disease with a placebo group vs an antioxidant group. The antioxidant group actually had increased mortality and they stopped the study early.

Ill have to see if I can find after boards if I can remember. Or if someone else can look, unfortunately my epocrates updated this morning so those docalerts aren't on there now. I'm sure the billion dollar health-guru-food-supplement-vitamin industry will love that. Cant you already hear the conspiracy talk about "big pharma" and mysterious "they's/them's" :)