Free Radicals, Antioxidants in Disease and Health

By Lien Ai Pham-Huy, Hua-Dong He, C. Pham-Huy. International Journal of Biomedical Science, 2008

2,776 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Free radicals and oxidants play a dual role as both toxic and beneficial compounds, since they can be either harmful or helpful to the body. They are produced either from normal cell metabolisms in situ or from external sources (pollution, cigarette smoke, radiation, medication). When an overload of free radicals cannot gradually be destroyed, their accumulation in the body generates a phenomenon called oxidative stress. This process plays a major part in the development of chronic and degenerative illness such as cancer, autoimmune disorders, aging, cataract, rheumatoid arthritis, cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases. The human body has several mechanisms to counteract oxidative stress by producing antioxidants, which are either naturally produced in situ, or externally supplied through foods and/or supplements. This mini-review deals with the taxonomy, the mechanisms of formation and catabolism of the free radicals, it examines their beneficial and deleterious effects on cellular activities, it highlights the potential role of the antioxidants in preventing and repairing damages caused by oxidative stress, and it discusses the antioxidant supplementation in health maintenance.

Subfields: Biochemistry, Nutrition and Dietetics, Organic Chemistry

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/162a2b26ae37c18cb0d8ef875f581d57538c6108

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Citations in the corpus

Flavonoids and Other Phenolic Compounds from Medicinal Plants for Pharmaceutical and Medical Aspects: An Overview (2018, background): “At the balance level, ROS and RNS are beneficial compounds for cellular functions and immune responses, but the unbalance concentration of ROS and RNS will lead to oxidative stress which can cause chronic and degenerative disorders [12,13].”
Diabetes mellitus and oxidative stress—A concise review (2015, neutral): “Now in order to scavenge the deleterious effects of these free radicals, the body has different mechanisms to produce antioxidants, endogenous or exogenous, that will neutralize the elevated amount of free radicals and keep the cells protected against their toxic effects and contributing toward the ”
Phenolic Compounds in Honey and Their Associated Health Benefits: A Review (2018, background): “On the other hands, free radicals can also be produced by exogenous factors such as pollution, incorrect life habits, UV rays, ionizing radiation, and psychophysical stress from intense physical activity [49].”
The Role of Sirtuins in Antioxidant and Redox Signaling (2017, background): “Antioxidants generally function by one of two pathways: by either breaking the radical continuation chain or by preventing it from occurring completely (127).”
Melatonin as a natural ally against oxidative stress: a physicochemical examination (2011, background): “They are necessary for the maturation process of cellular structures [28], and induce mitogenic responses [29–32].”
Carob as cocoa substitute: a review on composition, health benefits and food applications (2018, background): “Except from endogenous antioxidants, which are naturally generated in situ there are also exogenous antioxidants, which are externally supplied through foods [139].”
First line defence antioxidants-superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GPX): Their fundamental role in the entire antioxidant defence grid (2018, background): “Precisely, superoxide anion and hydrogen peroxide have been reported to act as mitogens, thereby promoting the rate of DNA replication and cell proliferation in a variety of cultured cells.(9,10) Nonetheless, in excess amounts, oxygen-derived radicals are very harmful to living organisms.”
Free Radicals: Properties, Sources, Targets, and Their Implication in Various Diseases (2014, background): “Both ROS and RNS collectively constitute the free radicals and other non radical reactive species [10].”
Agro-industrial potential of the mango peel based on its nutritional and functional properties (2016, background): “Biological free radicals are thus highly unstable molecules that have electrons available to react with various organic substrates such as lipids, proteins, and DNA.”
Role of ROS and Nutritional Antioxidants in Human Diseases (2018, background): “Although the exact pathogenesis of AD remains elusive, aging-related progressive increase in OS has been considered a chief contributor to the formation of AD lesions (Harman, 2006; Pimplikar et al., 2010).”
Increasing the utilisation of sorghum, millets and pseudocereals: Developments in the science of their phenolic phytochemicals, biofortification and protein functionality (2014, background): “The generally held hypothesis is that oxidative stress plays a major role in the development of chronic and degenerative diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disease and diabetes (Pham-Huy et al., 2008; Fearon and Faux, 2009).”