Radical scavenging and antioxidant capacity of serotonin

Serotonin is a monoamine neurotransmitter and biochemically derived from tryptophan. The present paper examines the in vitro antioxidant and radical scavenging capacity of serotonin using different in vitro methodologies. For the determination of antioxidant activity of serotonin, 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl free radical (DPPH) scavenging, 2,2́-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) radical scavenging activity, total antioxidant activity determination by ferric thiocyanate, total reducing ability determination by Fe3+-Fe2+ transformation method, superoxide anion radical scavenging by riboflavin-methionine-illuminate system, H2O2 scavenging and ferrous ions (Fe +) chelating activities of serotonin were performed. Also, butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), α-tocopherol and trolox, a water-soluble analog of α-tocopherol, were used as the reference antioxidant radical scavenger compounds. Serotonin completely inhibited lipid peroxidation of a linoleic acid emulsion at 15 μg/mL concentration. On the other hand, the above mentioned standard antioxidants displayed inhibition of 92.2, 99.6, 84.6 and 95.6% on peroxidation of linoleic acid emulsion, respectively at the 45 μg/mL concentration. In addition, serotonin was effective in DPPH· scavenging, ABTS•+ radical scavenging, superoxide anion radical scavenging, H2O2 scavenging, ferric ions (Fe3+) reducing power and metal chelating on ferrous ions (Fe+) activities. Also, those various antioxidant activities were compared to BHA, BHT α-tocopherol and trolox as references antioxidant compounds.