The retinoids are a class of chemical compounds that are related chemically to vitamin A . Retinoids are used in medicine, primarily due to the way they regulate epithelial cell growth. Retinoids have many important and diverse functions throughout the body including roles in vision, regulation of cell proliferation and differentiation, growth of boneimmune function, and activation of tumor suppressor genes. tissue,
 |
|
| Vitamin A (Retinol) | all trans-Retinoic acid (ATRA) |
Retinoids have recently received considerable attention as agents, that may have utility for both cancer prevention and treatment due to their cell differentiation, proliferation and antioxidant effects. Additionally, retinoids have been shown to inhibit microsomal lipid peroxidation as effective antioxidants. The importance of antioxidants in the maintenance of health and in protection from the damage induced by oxidative stress (implicated in the risk of chronic diseases), is becoming to the forefront of mechanistic approaches to genetically originated diseases, which are related to retinoids. It is well known that cellular and subcellular membranes are susceptible to lipid oxidation because of their relatively high concentration of polyunsaturated fatty acids and close proximity to oxygen, transition metals, and peroxidases.
Therefore, there has been a great deal of interest in the study of reactive oxygen species (ROS) such as the superoxide anion, hydroxyl radical and hydrogen peroxide which are related to arteriosclerosis, nephritis and carcinogenesis. Clinically, natural retinoids such as all trans-retinoic acid (ATRA) and retinol (vitamin A) are used in the treatment of proliferative dermatological diseases and in the prevention of certain tumors. However, the applicability of retinoid remedy is limited due to toxic effects of natural retinoids. New retinoidal compounds that comprise specific acting properties on eliminating the reactive oxygen species, together with the lower toxic and/or side effects, could be useful for the precise treatment of above mentioned diseases, clinically. We have synthesized the synthesis and some antioxidant activities of novel benzimidazole retinoids which are structurally hybrid compounds between retinoic acid and benzimidazole moiety.