細胞科学と治療のジャーナル
オープンアクセス

概要

Role of Free radicals in Different Clinical Conditions

Siddiqui Nusrath

Free radicals and related species have attracted a great deal of attention in recent years. They are mainly derived from oxygen (reactive oxygen species/ROS) and nitrogen (reactive nitrogen species/RNS), and are generated in our body by various endogenous systems, exposure to different physicochemical conditions or patho physiological states. It has been estimated that the average person has around 10000–20000 free radicals attacking each body cell each day. Some free radicals are good in that they enable your body to fight inflammation, kill bacteria, and control the tone of smooth muscles, which regulate the working of internal organs and blood vessels. On the other hand increased or uncontrolled free radical activity might combine with other factors to cause some diseases such as neurodegenerative diseases, heart disease, cancers etc. Free radicals are very unstable and react quickly with other compounds, and try to capture the needed electron to gain stability. A chain reaction thus gets started. Once the process is started, it can cascade, and finally results in the disruption of a living cell. Generally, harmful effects of reactive oxygen species on the cell are most often like damage of DNA, oxidations of poly desaturated fatty acids in lipids, oxidations of amino acids in proteins, oxidatively inactivate specific enzymes by oxidation of co-factors.