Free Radicals, Antioxidants and Disease
نویسنده
چکیده
Living cells continually generate free radicals or reactive oxygen species (ROS) through the respiratory chain during energetic metabolism. ROS can either be harmful or play important physiological roles in our body. Besides being produced during normal cell metabolism there are numerous exogenous factors, such as irradiation by UV light, X-rays, gamma-rays, and atmospheric pollutants which may lead to generation of ROS. Human body has various intrinsic mechanisms to counteract oxidative stress by producing antioxidants, or through externally derived foods and/or supplements. However whenever there is excess of free radicals their accumulation in the body generates a phenomenon called oxidative stress. As we age, this oxidative and/or nitrosative damages elicit a number of late-onset diseases after ROS/RNS accumulate to certain levels. The ROS/RNS-mediated late-onset diseases can occur in any system of the body and may lead to clinical conditions such as cancer, arthritis arteriosclerosis, and neurodegenerative diseases. Oxidative stress is marked with expression of specific biomarkers whose specificity towards the various disease condition needs validation. In this review, we summarize the source, balance, maintenance and physiological functions of ROS, and its toxic mechanisms underlying a number of diseases and also the biomarkers implicated in selected human diseases.
منابع مشابه
Oxidative Stress and Human Disease: a Review
Background: The human body needs both types of oxidants (free radicals) and antioxidants for normal metabolism, signal transduction mechanism, and the order of cellular activity. Free radicals can be either harmful or helpful to the body, in fact, they play a dual role as both toxic and beneficial compounds. The human body has the natural antioxidant defense mechanism to counteract the free rad...
متن کاملOxidative Stress and its Role in Female Infertility and Assisted Reproduction: Clinical Implications
Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are involved in physiological functions and act as mediators in various signaling processes. Elevated or sustained generation of free radicals and non radical species derived from free radicals can lead to an imbalance in the intracellular redox homeostasis. Normally, any excess levels of reactive radical and nonradical species generated are intercepted by antioxid...
متن کاملAntioxidants and Rheumatoid Arthritis
Free radicals can cause tissue damage. In normal physiology the endogenous free radicals produced in the body are neutralised by endogenous antioxidants. In inflammatory disease like RA free radicals may perpetuate tissue damage . The review disscuss the possible role of antioxidants in the treatment of RA
متن کاملWhy whey? Camel whey protein as a new dietary approach to the management of free radicals and for the treatment of different health disorders
The balance between free radicals and antioxidants is an important factor for maintaining health and slowing disease progression. The use of antioxidants, particularly natural antioxidants, has become an important strategy for dealing with this cause of widespread diseases. Natural antioxidants have been used as therapeutic tools against many diseases because they are safe, effective, and inexp...
متن کاملReactive species and antioxidants. Redox biology is a fundamental theme of aerobic life.
The field of antioxidants and free radicals is often perceived as focusing around the use of antioxidant supplements to prevent human disease. In fact, antioxidants/free radicals permeate the whole of life, creating the field of redox biology. Free radicals are not all bad, nor antioxidants all good. Life is a balance between the two: Antioxidants serve to keep down the levels of free radicals,...
متن کاملStudies on free radicals, antioxidants, and co-factors
The interplay between free radicals, antioxidants, and co-factors is important in maintaining health, aging and age-related diseases. Free radicals induce oxidative stress, which is balanced by the body's endogenous antioxidant systems with an input from co-factors, and by the ingestion of exogenous antioxidants. If the generation of free radicals exceeds the protective effects of antioxidants,...
متن کامل