Propofol versus Midazolam Regarding Their Antioxidant Activities

Propofol and midazolam are commonly used as sedatives for criti-cally ill patients. These patients usually suffer from the pathologic effects of oxidative stress, predominantly caused by an imbalance between the generation of reactive oxygen species and the anti-oxidant defense system. Therefore, the antioxidant activities of propofol and midazolam may be of clinical importance. We inves-tigated the activities of these two sedatives against hydrophilic or lipophilic peroxyl radicals in a homogeneous solution and in the presence of erythrocyte membranes. A chemical analysis of the homogeneous solution revealed that propofol efficiently scav-enged hydrophilic peroxyl radicals (50 % inhibitory concentration [I