A novel salvianolic acid A analog with resveratrol structure and its antioxidant activities in vitro and in vivo

E‐DRS is a novel salvianolic acid A (SAA) analog, which was synthesized from resveratrol (RES) and methyldopate. Its structure is similar to that of SAA, but the 3′,4′‐dihydroxy‐trans‐stilbene group and the ester structure in SAA were replaced by the RES structure and an amine group, respectively. E‐DRS scavenged free oxygen radicals effectively, including superoxide anion (ascorbic acid > E‐DRS > SAA ≥ rutin > RES) and DPPH radical (rutin > E‐DRS ≥ ascorbic acid > SAA > RES), and exhibited powerful total antioxidant capacity (ascorbic acid > E‐DRS > SAA ≥ rutin > RES) in vitro. Furthermore, oral administration of E‐DRS dose‐dependently and significantly decreased CCl4‐induced oxidative stress in mice as indicated by the decreased content of hepatic malondialdehyde (MDA). In addition, oral administration of E‐DRS also increased the content of nonenzymatic antioxidant glutathione (GSH) and the activity of antioxidant enzymes such as catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) in the liver of mice. All these results demonstrated that E‐DRS had good antioxidant activities both in vitro and in vivo, and could be a potential antioxidant agent after further optimization and evaluation.