Modified hydroxyethyl starch protects cells from oxidative damage.

This article describes the synthesis of novel starch-antioxidant conjugates, which show great potential for biomedical applications to protect cells from oxidative damage. These conjugates were synthesized by the modification of a hydroxyethyl starch (molecular weight=200,000g/mol) with various sterically hindered phenols that differ in radical scavenging activity. They possess substantial radical scavenging activity toward a model free radical.