Stobadine: Bellwether of a broader view of drug actions

Stobadine was recognized early in its development as having antioxidant pro perties. A number of laboratories found associations between the antioxidan t properties of stobadine and its potential beneficial effects. We found th at stobadine acted as an antioxidant in a modification of an oxygen radical absorbance capacity ORAC) assay. Similar results were observed with other drugs, including tirilazad and pramipexole. We suggest that stobadine and c ertain other drugs exhibit antioxidant properties in both hydrophilic and h ydrophobic environments. Other drugs have been developed for their antioxid ant properties and some currently marketed drugs have antioxidant propertie s. Although they may not have been explicitly sought during development, at least some of the beneficial effects may be related to antioxidant propert ies and/or scavenging of free radicals. Because stobadine was one of the fi rst drugs for which useful properties were associated with its antioxidant actions, stobadine may be seen as a bellwether of a broader view of pharmac ological actions a view that encompasses antioxidant properties as a useful basis of therapeutic effects.