Free Radicals In Human Health And Disease

The role of oxidative stress in human disease has become an area of intense interest. Free radicals, a normal product of metabolism, exist in all aerobic cells in balance with biochemical antioxidants. Environmental stress increases the levels of free radicals drastically, thereby disturbing the equilibrium between free radical production and the antioxidant capability causing oxidative stress. Over the years, ROS has been implicated in the pathologies of various diseases like cancer, neurological disorder, cardiovascular diseases rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes etc. This book provides an in depth critical state-of-art reviews from established investigators on free radicals, ROS associated pathogenesis of human diseases, biomarkers of oxidative damage, antioxidants, phytonutrients and other related health concerns of modern society. The present book is aimed at graduate students, researchers in academia, industry and clinicians with the interest in redox biology. Special attention has been devoted to the topic of ROS signalling, oxidative stress induced human pathologies & antioxidative therapies. The book consists of four parts in specified topics based on the current literatures for the better understanding of the readers with respect to their subject-wise interests. The first section of the book provides an overview about the ROS production and their measuring tools and techniques followed by the mechanisms involved in the oxidative stress in the second section. The third section describes the involvement of oxidative stress in different human diseases and the last section focuses on the different strategies to ameliorate oxidative stress induced stress.

This book offers a collection of expert reviews on the use of plant-based antioxidant therapies in disease prevention and treatment. Topics discussed include the uses of plant and nutritional antioxidants in the contexts of reproductive health and prenatal development, healthcare and aging, noncommunicable chronic diseases, and environmental pollution. The text is complemented by a wealth of color figures and summary tables.

Free Radicals in Biology and Medicine has become a classic text in the field of free radical and antioxidant research. Now in its fifth edition, the book has been comprehensively rewritten and updated whilst maintaining the clarity of its predecessors. Two new chapters discuss 'in vivo' and 'dietary' antioxidants, the first emphasising the role of peroxiredoxins and integrated defence mechanisms which allow useful roles for ROS, and the second containing new information on the role of fruits, vegetables, and vitamins in health and disease. This new edition also contains expanded coverage of the mechanisms of oxidative damage to lipids, DNA, and proteins (and the repair of such damage), and the roles played by reactive species in signal transduction, cell survival, death, human reproduction, defence mechanisms of animals and plants against pathogens, and other important biological events. The methodologies available to measure reactive species and oxidative damage (and their potential pitfalls) have been fully updated, as have the topics of phagocyte ROS production, NADPH oxidase enzymes, and toxicology. There is a detailed and critical evaluation of the role of free radicals and other reactive species in human diseases, especially cancer, cardiovascular, chronic inflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases. New aspects of ageing are discussed in the context of the free radical theory of ageing. This book is recommended as a comprehensive introduction to the field for students, educators, clinicians, and researchers. It will also be an invaluable companion to all those interested in the role of free radicals in the life and biomedical sciences.

This book provides a comprehensive overview of the oxidative stress related mechanisms in biological systems and the involvement of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (ROS and RNS), the damage of DNA, proteins, and lipids caused by oxidative stress, the protection of cells and tissues against free radicals, the relation of the oxidative stress to aging and human diseases including cancer and neurological disorders, and the development of new therapeutic approaches to modulate oxidative stress. The current state-of-the-art methodologies including the development of sensors and biosensors for the detection of ROS/RNS and of biomarkers of oxidative stress are also discussed. The book is organized in three overlapping parts, starting with general considerations of the oxidative stress, homeostasis pathways, and ROS mechanisms, followed by chapters discussing the involvement of ROS in particular diseases and concluding with analytical aspects of oxidative stress monitoring. The book provides a solid background on oxidative stress and ROS/RNS generation for novice learners while also offering scientists and practitioners already involved in this field a wealth of information covering the most recent developments in the study of oxidative stress, the role of radical species, novel antioxidant therapies, and methods for assessing free radicals and oxidative stress.

This book serves as a comprehensive overview of the current scientific knowledge on the health effects of dietary and supplemental antioxidants (such as vitamins C and E). Chapters integrate information from basic research and animal studies, epidemiologic studies, and clinical intervention trials. The popular media has taken great interest in antioxidants, with numerous articles emphasizing their role in preventing disease and the possible slowing of the aging process. These antioxidant vitamins may be important in preventing not only acute deficiency symptoms, but also chronic disorders such as heart disease and certain types of cancer. This book, therefore, is not only for scientists and doctors, but also for health writers, journalists, and informed lay people. The text focuses on several human conditions for which there is now good scientific evidence that oxidation is an important etiological component. Specifically, antioxidants may prevent or slow down the progression of: Cancer, Cardiovascular disease, Immune system disorders, Cataracts, Neurological disorders, Degeneration due to the aging process.

Unlike other narrowly focused books, Reactive Oxygen Species in Biology and Human Health provides a comprehensive overview of ROS. It covers the current status of research and provides pointers to future research goals. Additionally, it authoritatively reviews the impact of reactive oxygen species with respect to various human diseases and discusses antioxidants and other compounds that counteract oxidative stress. Comprised of seven sections, the first section describes the introduction, detection, and production of ROS, emphasizing phenolic compounds and vitamin E for their abilities to act as antioxidants. This section also highlights the role of lipoprotein-associated oxidative stress. Section two addresses the importance of iron accumulation in the brain resulting in the development of a group of neurodegenerative disorders (NDs) and identifies several causative genes for neurodegeneration with brain iron accumulation (NBIA) associated with Parkinsonism-related disorders. The third section discusses a number of NDs, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Huntington's disease (HD), epilepsy, and multiple sclerosis (MS). Section four addresses autoimmune diseases caused by ROS, including asthma, autoimmune liver diseases, rheumatoid arthritis, thyroid disease, primary biliary cirrhosis, and systemic lupus. Section five analyzes a number of different cancers, including lung cancer, breast cancer, and melanoma, along with possible treatment regimens. Section six discusses cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) induced by ROS, presents the ROS-associated complex biochemical processes inducing inflammation as an important cause of CVDs, and explains the roles carotenoids play in preventing CVDs. The final section addresses other human diseases induced by oxidative stress, including sickle cell disease, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, retinopathy, fibromyalgia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, pulmonary hypertension, infertility, and aging of human skin.

This volume includes contributions by the leading experts in the field of yeast aging. Budding yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and other fungal organisms provide models for aging research that are relevant to organismic aging and to the aging processes occurring in the human body. Replicative aging, in which only the mother cell ages while the daughter cell resets the clock to zero is a model for the aging of stem cell populations in humans, while chronological aging (measured by survival in stationary phase) is a model for the aging processes in postmitotic cells (for instance, neurons of the brain). Most mechanisms of aging are studied in yeast. Among them, this book discusses: mitochondrial theories of aging, emphasizing oxidative stress and retrograde responses; the role of autophagy and mitophagy; the relationship of apoptosis to aging processes; the role of asymmetric segregation of damage in replicative aging; the role of replication stress; and the role of the cytoskeleton in aging. Modern methods of yeast genetics and genomics are described that can be used to search for aging-specific functions in a genome-wide unbiased fashion. The similarities in the pathology of senescence (studied in yeast) and of cancer cells, including genome instability, are examined.

The imbalance between the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and antioxidant defenses determines a state known as oxidative stress. Higher levels of pro-oxidants compared to antioxidant defenses may generate oxidative damage, which, in turn, may lead to modifications in cellular proteins, lipids, and DNA, reducing functional capacity and increasing the risk of diseases. Nevertheless, the clearance of harmful reactive chemical species is achieved by the antioxidant defense systems. These protection systems are referred to as the first and second lines of defense and comprise the classic antioxidants, enzymatic and nonenzymatic defenses, including glutathione. This book presents and discusses the advancement of research on health and diseases and their underlying mechanisms, exploring mainly aspects related to the glutathione antioxidant system.