I use the IC50 to compare the antioxidant ablility among samples. However there are lots of article using % inhibition to make a conclusion of the antioxidant ability of a sample. They even do not draw a correlation linear or give any information about the concentration. However they still compare their results with the others. I wonder how can they do that. In my opinion we only can compare the % inhibition if the samples are in the same concentration. Moreover please giv me some pros and cons between those two method ( IC50 and % inhibition).
Please help me. I really need it as soon as possible.
Actually, IC50 and % inhibition are related but distinct methods used to assess antioxidant activity.
- IC50 (half maximal inhibitory concentration) is a quantitative measure representing the concentration of a substance required to inhibit 50% of a specific biological activity, such as oxidative stress or enzyme activity. It provides a precise value indicating the potency of the antioxidant.
- % inhibition, on the other hand, is a measure of the extent to which a substance inhibits a biological activity, expressed as a percentage relative to a control group. It provides a qualitative measure of antioxidant activity but does not specify the concentration required to achieve the observed inhibition.
So, while both methods assess antioxidant activity, IC50 provides a quantitative measure of potency, whereas % inhibition offers a qualitative assessment of effectiveness relative to a control.
Usually researches that have only general screening of antioxidant activity as a part of its objectives finds % of inhibition as enough information to whether or not there is antioxidant activity and general estimation of the level of the antioxidant activity (knowing that the researcher uses the same concentration for the tested substances investigated).
Some researchers continue with further tests for measuring the IC50 of the tested substance that showed promising inhibition% even though their research is only targeting general screening and some others ends their research with only the inhibition% findings (while tested substances that shows low inhibition % usually are not considered for further test to measure the IC50).
On the other hand if the research is mainly concerned with the antioxidant activity the inhibition% findings will not be satisfying, measuring the IC50 will be needed to give proper conclusion about the activity.
Regarding the pros and cons between the two methods of evaluation, calculation of inhibition % is easier with less experimental and mathematical steps (no calculations for the effect of multiple concentrations or need for construction of concentration response curve and further estimation of the IC%50 from the curve).
On the other hand calculation of the IC50 provide more informative results regarding the potency of the tested substance, so ultimately choosing the method depends on the research objective.
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