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Allopurinol and oxypurinol are hydroxyl radical scavengers
Author(s) -
Moorhouse P.Christopher,
Grootveld Martin,
Halliwell Barry,
Quinlan J.Gregory,
Gutteridge John M.C.
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
febs letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.593
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1873-3468
pISSN - 0014-5793
DOI - 10.1016/0014-5793(87)81458-8
Subject(s) - allopurinol , chemistry , xanthine oxidase , hydroxyl radical , hypochlorous acid , xanthine oxidase inhibitor , radical , free radical scavenger , xanthine , scavenger , biochemistry , antioxidant , enzyme , medicine
Allopurinol is a scavenger of the highly reactive hydroxyl radical ( k 2 approx. 10 9 M −1 s −1 ). One product of attack of hydroxyl radical upon allopurinol is oxypurinol, which is a major metabolite of allopurinol. Oxypurinol is a better hydroxyl radical scavenger than is allopurinol ( k 2 approx. 4 × 10 9 M −1 s −1 ) and it also reacts with the myeloperoxidase‐derived oxidant hypochlorous acid. Hence the protective actions of allopurinol against reperfusion damage after hypoxia need not be entirely due to xanthine oxidase inhibition.