Pulse Brain · Growing Health Evidence Index
Tier 4 — Narrative / commentaryPeer-reviewed

Free radicals, oxidative stress, and antioxidants in human health and disease

Okezie I. Aruoma

Journal of the American Oil Chemists Society · 1998

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Summary

This review examines the generation and accumulation of free radicals and reactive oxygen species in human physiology, their role in pathologies including cancer, atherosclerosis, and neurodegenerative diseases, and the endogenous enzymatic defences (SOD, catalase, glutathione peroxidase) that regulate them. The author emphasises the importance of measuring oxidative damage products as biomarkers and calls for improved methodologies to evaluate the efficacy of antioxidant supplementation and interventions in clinical settings.

Regional applicability

The paper is a general mechanistic and biochemical review of oxidative stress in human health and is not geographically or clinically specific to any region. Its conclusions on oxidative stress mechanisms and antioxidant defences are broadly applicable to United Kingdom clinical practice and nutritional research.

Key measures

Oxidative damage products including 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine (DNA), isoprostanes (lipids), and altered amino acids (proteins); activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase, and glutathione peroxidase

Outcomes reported

The paper reviews free radical and reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation in the human body, their implication in disease pathology, and endogenous antioxidant defence mechanisms. It discusses the need for emerging technologies to assess oxidative damage to biomolecules and the potential for antioxidant intervention studies.

Theme
Nutrition & health
Subject
Dietary patterns & chronic disease
Study type
Narrative Review
Study design
Narrative review
Source type
Peer-reviewed study
Status
Published
System type
Human clinical
DOI
10.1007/s11746-998-0032-9
Catalogue ID
SNmqq4q1bn-sysa2p

Topic tags

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