I’ve been buying Advil in the jumbo jugs ever since I started training for triathlons. But little did I know that NSIADs possibly have an antioxidant action. The notion came to me during a class I am taking at CU Boulder, about the Neurology of Aging. The professor said that there is some evidence that the anti-inflammation action from Ibuprofen and other NSIADs may diminish risk for Alzheimer’s disease. I hit google right when I got home from class. So, on to the study, which is a little dense:

Singlet oxygen scavenging activity of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
Authors: Costa, David1; Gomes, Ana1; Lima, José L.F.C.1; Fernandes, Eduarda1
Source: Redox Report, Volume 13, Number 4, August 2008 , pp. 153-160(8)

Abstract:
It has long been known that singlet oxygen (1O2) is generated during inflammatory processes. Once formed in substantial amounts, 1O2 may have an important role in mediating the destruction of infectious agents during host defense. On the other hand, 1O2 is capable of damaging almost all biological molecules and is particularly genotoxic, which gives a special relevance to the scavenging of this ROS throughout anti-inflammatory treatments. Considering that the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) constitutes a first approach in the treatment of persistent inflammatory processes (due to their ability to inhibit cyclooxygenase), a putative scavenging activity of NSAIDs for 1O2 would also represent a significant component of their therapeutic effect. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the scavenging activity for 1O2 by several chemical families of NSAIDs. The results suggested that the pyrazole derivatives (dipyrone and aminopyrine) are, by far, the most potent scavengers of 1O2 (much more potent compared to the other tested NSAIDs), displaying IC50-values in the low micromolar range. There was a lack of activity for most of the arylpropionic acid derivatives tested, with only naproxen and indoprofen displaying residual activities, as for the oxazole derivative, oxaprozin. On the other hand, the pyrrole derivatives (tolmetin and ketorolac), the indolacetic acid derivatives (indomethacin, and etodolac), as well as sulindac and its metabolites (sulindac sulfide and sulindac sulfone) displayed scavenging activity in the high micromolar range.