Abstract:

Bovine serum albumin (BSA)-sugar and BSA-methylglyoxal/glyoxal (MGO/GO) reaction systems were
established to study the inhibitory activity of quercetin on the formation of advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs) in the
reaction systems. The inhibitory effect of quercetin on the formation of AGEs at different stages in BSA-ribose system
was explored. Meanwhile, the inhibitory effect of quercetin on DNA damage caused by dicarbonyl compounds in plasmid
pBR322 DNA was also studied. The results showed that quercetin inhibited the formation of AGEs in BSA-sugar and
BSA-MGO/GO systems, especially at concentrations of 1, 0.25 and 0.25 mmol/L. The inhibitory effect of quercetin on the
production of AGEs in BSA-MGO system was stronger than in BSA-GO system. During the initial stage of the reaction
between BSA and ribose, the inhibitory effect was increased with increasing reaction time and 12 days later, tended to
remain at a level of approximately 60%. Therefore, quercetin has an inhibitory effect on DNA damage induced by dicarbonyl
compounds in a concentration-dependent fashion.

Key words: bovine serum albumin, quercetin, advanced glycation end product (AGE), plasmid pBR322DNA