Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Apr 27;7(4):e06902.
doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e06902. eCollection 2021 Apr.

Metronidazole does not show direct antioxidant activity in in vitro global systems

Klára Szentmihályi  1 , Krisztina Süle  1   2 , Anna Egresi  2   3 , Anna Blázovics  4 , Zoltán May  1
Affiliations

Metronidazole does not show direct antioxidant activity in in vitro global systems

Klára Szentmihályi et al. Heliyon. .

Abstract

Metronidazole has been widely used topically and systemically for more than 50 years but data on its antioxidant properties are still incomplete, unclear and contradictory. Its antioxidant properties are primarily hypothesized based on in vivo results, therefore, studies have been performed to determine whether metronidazole has antioxidant activity in vitro. We used so-called global spectrophotometric and luminometric methods. Fe3+/Fe2+-reducing ability, hydrogen donor activity, hydroxyl radical scavenging property and lipid peroxidation inhibitory activity were investigated. Under the condition used, metronidazole has negligible iron-reducing ability and hydrogen donor activity. The hydroxyl radical scavenging capacity cannot be demonstrated. It acts as a pro-oxidant in the H2O2/.OH-microperoxidase-luminol system, but it can inhibit the induced lipid peroxidation. According to our results, metronidazole has not shown antioxidant activity in vitro but can affect redox homeostasis by a ROS-independent mechanism due to its non-direct antioxidant properties.

Keywords: Hydrogen donor activity; Lipid peroxidation inhibition; Metronidazole.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Protocol of global measurements of metronidazole antioxidant property.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Hydrogen donor activity of metronidazole as a function of concentration. ∗Significant difference (p < 0.05) compared to the inhibition % at the lowest concentration.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Concentration-dependent hydroxyl radical generation of metronidazole in H2O2/□OH microperoxidase-luminol system (RLU: relative light unit). ∗Significant difference (p < 0.05) compared to the background intensity.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Lipid peroxidation inhibition of metronidazole. ∗Significant difference (p < 0.05) compared to the lipid peroxidation value of sunflower oil.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Freeman C.D., Klutman N.E., Lamp K.C. Metronidazole. A therapeutic review and update. Drugs. 1997;4:679–708. - PubMed
    1. Ramasubbu D.A., Smith V., Hayden F., Cronin P. Systemic antibiotics for treating malignant wounds. Cochrane Database Syst. Rev. 2017;24:CD011609. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Aronson I.K., Rumsfield J.A., West D.P., Alexander J., Fischer J.H., Palouceket F.P. Evaluation of topical metronidazole gel in acne rosacea. Drug Intell. Clin. Pharm. 1987;21:346–351. - PubMed
    1. Hoffmann C., Fock N., Franke G., Zsciesche M., Siegmund W. Comparative bioavailability of metronidazole formulations (Vagimid) after oral and vaginal administration. Int. J. Clin. Pharmacol. Ther. 1995;33:232–239. - PubMed
    1. Cosar C., Julou L. Activitiè de1’(hydroxy-2-ethyl)-1-methyl-2-nitro-5-imidazole (8.823R.P.) vis-a-vis des infections expérimentales à Trichomonas vaginalis. Ann. Inst. Pasteur. 1959;96:238–241. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources