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Oxidative stress is an environment where the balance of prooxidant species to antioxidant species is altered in favor of the former. Prooxidant species include free radicals (e.g., the superoxide ion; O −2 ) and nonradical species (e.g., hydrogen peroxide; H2O2), which together are classified as reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS). RONS are produced as a consequence of normal cellular oxidation processes. Sources include the mitochondrial electron transport chain, peroxisomes, endothelial or hepatic xanthine oxidase, and leukocytes. RONS have a variety of roles in normal homeostasis, including respiration and cellular signaling: RONS are reported to act as transient signaling molecules in the Ras GDP/GTP cycle and MAP kinase cascades, through modification of protein-bound redox-sensitive thiol groups.
Antioxidants serve to delay or prevent the oxidation of substrates or cellular constituents. They may be endogenous, for example, the enzymes superoxide...
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Halliwell, B., & Gutteridge, J. (2007). Free radicals in biology and medicine (4th ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.
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© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media, New York
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Aldred, S. (2013). Oxidative Stress. In: Gellman, M.D., Turner, J.R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1005-9_1339
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1005-9_1339
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-1004-2
Online ISBN: 978-1-4419-1005-9
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