As a nutrient supplement

Lei Zhen Zi Health-Care Capsule (Lei Zhen Zi) shows good effects on immune regulation and anti-aging. Its main components are procyanidolic oligomers

Ganoderma lucidum polysaccharides

gypenoside and vitamin C. Although some physiological effects of each component have been studied

the ability of Lei Zhen Zi as a combination form of nutrient supplement to scavenge directly free radicals

reactive oxygen species and reactive nitrogen species has never been investigated. In the present study

seven chemiluminescence systems and one colorimetric system

well established in our labora- tory

were used to elucidate the effects of Lei Zhen Zi on antioxidation and preventing DNA damage caused by

·

OH oxidation. The experiments revealed that Lei Zhen Zi could effectively scavenge O

2

·

produced in both xanthine-xanthineoxidase chemiluminescence system and pyrgallic acid auto-oxidation chemiluminescence system

but the 50% inhibition concentration (IC

50

) in the former (0.4μg/mL) was much lower than that in the later (50μg/mL). The reason for this phenomenon may be that in the xanthine-xanthineoxidase chemiluminescence system

Lei Zhen Zi can not only directly scavenge O

2

·

but also inhibit the activity of xanthineoxidase and reduce the production of O

2

·

whereas in the pyrgallic acid auto-oxidation chemiluminescence system

Lei Zhen Zi acts only as an O

2

·

scavenger. The experiments also showed that Lei Zhen Zi could effectively scavenge

·

OH produced in CuSO 4-Vit.C chemiluminescence system (IC 50=100μg/mL)

H

2

O

2

in H

2

O

2

-luminol-OH -system (IC

50

=0.5μg/mL)

ONOO

-

in ONOO

-

-luminol chemiluminescence system (IC

50

=50μg/mL) and the reactive oxygen species produced in whole blood phagocytes chemiluminescence system (IC

50

=12μg/mL). The DNA-protecting experiments showed that Lei Zhen Zi could effectively prevent DNA damage caused by

·

OH oxidation through direct scavenge of

·

OH. Above results indicate that the combination of nutrient supplement Lei Zhen Zi is an efficient antioxidant as well as a good DNA protector and the strong antioxidative activity of Lei Zhen Zi may be the important pharmacological base of its health-care effects. The present results can provide free radical biological data for the further investigation into the mechanisms by which Lei Zhen Zi functions as a health-care nutrient supplement.