As an
antioxidant, tyrosol may protect cells against injury due to oxidation
in vitro. Although it is not as potent as other antioxidants present in olive oil (e.g.,
hydroxytyrosol), its higher concentration and good
bioavailability indicate that it may have an important overall effect. Tyrosol may also be cardioprotective. Tyrosol-treated animals showed significant increase in the phosphorylation of
Akt,
eNOS, and
FOXO3a. In addition, tyrosol also induced the expression of the protein
SIRT1 in the heart after
myocardial infarction (MI) in a rat MI model. Tyrosol forms esters with a variety of organic acids. For example,
oleocanthal is the
elenolic acid ester of tyrosol. == See also ==