FREE RADICAL REACTIONS IN BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS - A CONCEPT APPROACHED IN THE RESEARCHES CARRIED OUT BY PROFESSOR CRISTOFOR I. SIMIONESCU

摘要

Between 1956 and 1968, professor Cristofor I. Simionescu, together with his coworkers, carried out extensive research in the field of vegetable tumor. They studied different aspects of the induction, evolution, chemistry and inhibition of crown gall disease (the formation of tumor) caused by Agrobacterium tumefaciens (Rhizobium radiobacter). To inhibit tumor formation, polyphenol compounds were used, supposing their action to be based on the inhibition of radicals involved in cancer propagation. At present, the activity of natural polyphenols has been confirmed by a considerable body of published research. Continuing the preoccupations of professor Simionescu and based on the biorefining principle, we have separated and characterized natural polyphenols from different sources, and their activity was demonstrated in different biological systems.