Protocatechuic acid

Chemical Name: Protocatechuic acid

CAS No.:99-50-3

Chemical Structure:C7H6O4

Molecular weight:154.12

Function：

Effects on the Cardiovascular System: Protocatechuic acid can significantly reduce myocardial oxygen consumption, enhance myocardial oxygen tolerance, and slow down heart rate. For instance, after intravenous injection of 50 mg/kg of protocatechuic acid in cats, their oxygen consumption decreased by about 47%, while their heart rate remained unchanged and cardiac output increased by 10%. This demonstrates that protocatechuic acid can significantly prolong the myocardial tolerance to hypoxia under mild improvement of cardiac function.

Antibacterial Effects: Protocatechuic acid has inhibitory effects on various bacteria, including Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhimurium, Shigella, Alcaligenes, Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus albus, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Streptococcus A, Haemophilus influenzae, and Proteus vulgaris. For example, experiments on mice infected with Staphylococcus aureus in vivo showed that protocatechuic acid could reduce mortality by 30%.

Expectorant and Antiasthmatic Effects: Protocatechuic acid also exhibits certain expectorant and antiasthmatic effects, which can be used for the treatment of chronic bronchitis. When mice were gavaged with 4.68 mg/mouse of protocatechuic acid, it showed expectorant effects; histamine spray-induced asthma tests on guinea pigs also proved that protocatechuic acid had significant antiasthmatic effects.

Antitumor Effects: Protocatechuic acid can inhibit chemical carcinogens in vitro and exert pro-apoptotic and anti-proliferative effects in different tissues. Additionally, it has mild inhibitory effects on experimental HF sarcoma and sarcoma 180 in mice.

Neuroprotective Effects: Protocatechuic acid can inhibit the aggregation of Aβ and αS and destabilize their preformed fibrils, thereby preventing PC12 cell death induced by the toxicity of Aβ and αS. It can also prevent stress-induced immobility time in forced swimming tests without altering the motor activity of mice.

Antioxidant Effects: Protocatechuic acid is the main metabolite of antioxidant polyphenols found in green tea and exhibits radical scavenging ability in the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging activity assay.

Other Effects: Protocatechuic acid also has anti-inflammatory, anti-hyperglycemic, anti-chemical injury, anti-neurotoxicity and oxidative stress induced by cadmium poisoning, and other effects. In addition, it can inhibit oxidative DNA damage in the rat colonic mucosa and can be used for the derivatization of chitosan resins.