Understanding apoptotic signaling pathways in cytosine deaminase-uracil phosphoribosyl transferase-mediated suicide gene therapy in vitro

The present work was carried out to evaluate the antioxidant activity of hesperidin and to study its protective effect on H₂O₂ induced oxidative damage on pBR322 DNA and RBC cellular membrane. The in vitro assays were performed with different concentrations (2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 μg/ml, which were equivalent to 3.27, 6.55, 9.83, 13.10, and 16.38 μM) of hesperidin and the results clearly indicate that hesperidin at 10 μg/ml exhibited radical scavenging activity greater than that of standards like ascorbic acid and trolox. The protective effect of hesperidin on pBR322 DNA and RBC cellular membrane on treatment with different concentrations of H₂O₂ shows that hesperidin at 2.5 mM converts the open circular form (oc) of pBR322 DNA that is an indication of damage to super coiled (ccc) form and at 10 μg/ml it prevents membrane damage. Thus, our result proves hesperidin to be a valuable antioxidant that protects pBR322 DNA and RBC cellular membrane from free radical induced oxidative damage.