Antioxidant and free radical scavenging properties of N-acetylcysteine amide (NACA) and comparison with N-acetylcysteine (NAC)

The antioxidant potential of N-acetylcysteine amide (NACA), also known as AD4, was assessed by employing different in vitro assays. These included reducing power, free radical scavenging capacities, peroxidation inhibiting activity through linoleic acid emulsion system and metal chelating capacity, as compared to NAC and three widely used antioxidants, α-tocopherol, ascorbic acid and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT). Of the antioxidant properties that were investigated, NACA was shown to possess higher 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl-hydrate (DPPH) radical scavenging ability and reducing power than NAC, at all the concentrations, whereas the scavenging ability of H₂O₂ differed with concentration. While NACA had greater H₂O₂ scavenging capacity at the highest concentration, NAC was better than NACA at lower concentrations. NAC and NACA had a 60% and 55% higher ability to prevent β-carotene bleaching, respectively, as compared to control. The chelating activity of NACA was more than 50% that of the metal chelating capacity of EDTA and four and nine times that of BHT and α-tocopherol, respectively. When compared to NACA and NAC; α-tocopherol had higher DPPH scavenging abilities and BHT and α-tocopherol had better β-carotene bleaching power. These findings provide evidence that the novel antioxidant, NACA, has indeed enhanced the antioxidant properties of NAC.