An antioxidant with diverse biological activities; reduces free radical production by murine macrophages and granulocytes in vitro in a dose dependent manner; induces expression of HIF-1α and increases VEGF secretion in human colon carcinoma cells; rectal administration (500 μL of a 10 mM solution) reduces myeloperoxidase activity and reduces pro-inflammatory cytokine production in the colon in a rat model of colitis; reduces the incidence of cleft palate in fetuses born to female mice treated with teratogenic methylmercury chloride; reduces heme oxygenase 1 mRNA expression, lipid peroxidation, and transverse aortic constriction in a mouse model of cardiac hypertrophy at a dose of 100 mg/kg; increases activity of superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase and reverses hepatocyte degeneration in a rat model of high-fat diet-induced non-alcoholic steatohepatitis