Protocatechuic Acid

Protocatechuic acid (PCA) is a dihydroxybenzoic acid phenolic compound found in many edible and medicinal plants. It is a major metabolite of antioxidant polyphenols found in green tea and demonstrates free radical scavenging capability in a 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging activity assay (IC₅₀ = 16.3 μM).^1,2 It is thought to possess anti-inflammatory, antihyperglycemic, neuroprotective, and anticancer activities. Dietary administration of PCA dose dependently inhibits in vitro chemical carcinogenesis and exerts pro-apoptotic and anti-proliferative effects in different tissues.³ In studies of tumor cell migration and invasion using mouse melanoma B16/F10 cells, PCA at 0.1-2 mM down-regulated the Ras/Akt/NF-κB pathway by targeting RhoB activation, leading to a reduction of MMP-mediated activity.⁴

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1. Li, X., Lin, J., Han, W., et al. Antioxidant ability and mechanism of rhizoma Atractylodes macrocephala. Molecules 17(11), 13457-13472 (2012).

2. Al-Musayeib, N., Perveen, S., Fatima, I., et al. Antioxidant, anti-glycation and anti-inflammatory activities of phenolic constituents from Cordia sinensis. Molecules 16(12), 10214-10226 (2011).

3. Tanaka, T., Kojima, T., Suzui, M., et al. Chemoprevention of colon carcinogenesis by the natural product of a simple phenolic compound protocatechuic acid: Suppressing effects on tumor development and biomarkers expression of colon tumorigenesis. Cancer Res. 53(17), 3908-3913 (1993).

4. Lin, H.H., Chen, J.H., Chou, F.P., et al. Protocatechuic acid inhibits cancer cell metastasis involving the down-regulation of Ras/Akt/NF-κB pathway and MMP-2 production by targeting RhoB activation. Br. J. Pharmacol. 162(1), 237-254 (2011).