Chrysin’s Antioxidant Effects on the Nervous System Show Its Potential Therapeutic Significance Anyi Li
Abstract: Chrysin is a compound that is mostly found in various plants, honey and propolis. Chrysin is widely used as a nonprescription drug for bodybuilding, dealing with anxiety, or reducing inflammation. Recent research shows chrysin’s significance in controlling depression-like behavior of women. Chrysin (also called 5,7dihydroxyflavone, chemical formula: C15H10O4, structure is shown by figure 1) is a common member of the flavone family, which is a class of flavonoids that are common in plants.1
Figure 1: Structure of Chrysin.
Flavonoids are important component in the pigeon of plants, especially purple flowers, which indicates that it is a common chemical frequently ingested by humans. Additionally, Flavones do not have physiological effects in the human body and lack antioxidant food value.2 Chrysin, on the other hand, is not only found in plants like the passion flowers, but also found in products that are related to bees, for instance, honey and propolis.3
Chrysin is known for its function as an antioxidant. According to a group of researchers from Neyshabur University and Mashhad University in Iran, chrysin is one of the flavones that shows antioxidant properties, which is mainly supported by the double bond between carbons 2 and 3, and the carbonyl group on carbon 4 (see figure 1). Since ring B and ring C contain no oxygenation, chrysin is also related to other biological abilities like antitoxic and antiinflammatory effects.4 There has been abundant research about the physical benefit of honey. In 2014, two researchers from Chulalongkorn University, Thailand, Pongsathon Premratanachai and Chanpen Chanchao, wrote a review journal about propolis’s anticancer properties, among which chrysin plays an effective role. According to Premratanachai and Chanchao, chrysin has a broad influence on the apoptotic process.5 Despite flavonoids seems to be ineffective in human body, several recent researches show the potential therapeutic significant in cognition and nervous system of chrysin. Back in 1992, researchers from the Instituto de Biologfa Celular conducted an experiment on mice that indicates chrysin’s properties of anxiety decline. They used mice as experimental subjects, putting them into an elevated plus-maze (shown by figure 2) and observing the time they spent on the open and closed arms of the maze: greater trial times indicate anxiety in the mice, while low trial times reveal sedative activity.
Figure 2: Setting of an elevated plus-maze.
