Study of the action of flavonoids on xanthine-oxidase by molecular topology

A study was performed on xanthine-oxidase inhibition by 22 flavonoids, incl uding flavones, flavonols, flavanones, and chalcones, using UV spectroscopy for experimental data and molecular topology to establish the structure-ac tivity relationship (SAR) model. The flavonoids were classified into four g roups according to their activity on xanthine-oxidase (inactive, low, signi ficant, or high), and linear discriminant analysis was used to classify eac h compound within a group. The results led to a very good model, which was able to classify correctly as xanthine oxidase inhibitors, along with a tes t set of molecules including a variety of different compounds such as allop urinol, caffeic acid, esculetin, and alloxantin.