The role of oxidative stress and antioxidant treatment in liver surgery and transplantation

✍ Scribed by Tom Luedde; Christian Trautwein

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2006
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 63 KB
• Volume: 12
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1527-6465
• DOI: 10.1002/lt.20990

✦ Synopsis

Oxidative stress and the role of free oxygen radicals in disease have been extensively discussed in the scientific community for several decades. In the early 1980s, Linus Pauling proposed that the antioxidant effects of high doses of vitamin C might help treat cancer. 1 Since then, numerous studies have evaluated the possible benefits of pharmacological and nutritional antioxidants in prophylaxis or treatment of diseases, including cancer, 2 cardiovascular disease, 3 and diabetes. 4 However, study results have remained inconsistent, and widespread use of antioxidants so far has not fulfilled past expectations. 5 Recent experimental studies have shed new light on the chemical and biological aspects of oxidative stress and reactive oxygen species (ROS) and their possible involvement in pathogenesis of disease models. Oxygen radicals such as O 2 Ϫ , HO Ϫ , or ONOO Ϫ are produced by metabolic processes inside the cell. These metabolites