Actividad antioxidante de la ficocianina frente a radicales peroxílicos y la peroxidación lipídica microsomal

phycocyanin is a biliprotein from blue green algae as spirulina (arthospira) maxima. this protein carries 3 chromogenic groups (linear tetrapyrroles) per monometric unit, with a structure similar to that of bilirubin which is a recognized endogenous antioxidant. on the other hand, it is known that other porphyrin derivatives such as alpha chrlorophyll have antioxidant properties. taking this into consideration, this paper is aimed at evaluating whether phycocyanin has antioxidant properties to peroxyl radicals or not at different experimental settings, such as 1. reduction of absorption band to 620nm associated to the integrity of chromogen when reacting to peroxyl radicals; 2. protection of human hematids from peroxyl radical-induced lysis; 3, inhibition of fe+2-ascorbate-induced microsomal lipid peroxidation. the results indicated that choromophore groups of phycocyanin quickly reacted to peroxyl radicals, a mechanism by which this biliprotein was able to protect red cells from cell lysis and inhibit microsomal lipid peroxidation