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Oxidative Stress
Oxidative Stress
Dr E. Marilyn Duff
The University of the West Indies
Faculty of Medical Sciences
The UWI School of Nursing, Mona
2007
OXIDATIVE STRESS
Superoxides O- + O- ------ O2
Tobacco smoke,
pollutants, organic
solvents, pesticides,
anaesthetics, radiation,
metabolic intermediates
of some drugs.
Diseases associated with free
radicals
Diseases assoc. with free radicals:
emphysema, atherosclerosis,
senile dementia, contact dermatitis,
cataracts, retinopathy,
diabetic complications.
Free radicals cause cellular
damage by:
Denaturing proteins
Damaging DNA
Metaloenzymes:
Catalase (Fe)
Superoxide dismutases (Zn, Cu, Mn)
Glutathione peroxidase (Se)
Acute phase proteins, e.g.ceruloplasmin (Cu)
Direct free radical scavengers
Exogenous antioxidants:
Vitamin E (a-tocopherol): lipid soluble antioxidant
present in all cell membranes.
Vitamin C: water soluble, quenches free radicals.
B-carotene: the most efficient quencher of free
radicals.
N. Anderson (1994), Proceedings of the Jamaica Food & Nutrition Society.