Scavenging and antioxidant effects of estrogen derivatives in cholesterol-fed rabbits.

It is well establish that many estrogens are naturally occurring antioxidant1.Some Δ8.,9-dehydro derivatives of 17α-estradiol and 17β-estradiol are effective scavengers of free oxygen radicals2. These estrogens are called scavestrogens because their radical scavenging effect is higher than those of the parent compounds. There are the experimental data on estrogens attenuating the progression of atherosclerosis3. Oxidation of low-density lipoproteins (LDL) is believed to play an important role in atherogenesis4. A supplementation with different antioxidants is widely used for the treatment and prevention of atherosclerosis5. We studied the antioxidative effect of Δ8,9-dehydro derivative of 17α-estradiol, 14α, 15α-methylene-8-dehydro-17α-estradiol (J861) in a comparison with 17α-and 17β-estradiols in the liver of cholesterol-fed rabbits. We also evaluated radical scavenging properties of scavestrogens and estrogens in vitro using spin-trapping techniques.