Free radicals involvement in chronic diseases and

Free Radical Involvement in Chronic Diseases and Aging... 

Despite the indications for involvement of free radicals in Alzheimer s disease and Down s syndrome pathogenesis summarized above, more evidence is needed to establish a role for free-radical mechanisms in these disease processes. If free radicals can be demonstrated to play a role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer s disease and Down s syndrome, then this would set the stage for chronic therapy with antioxidants in these disease states. 

In a recent review of the chronic diseases that contribute most importantly to limiting human lifespan, Fries and Crapo (1) list the six diseases shown in Table I. It is interesting that there is beginning to be evidence for an important contribution of free radical processes in many of these six diseases, and much of this evidence is quite new. I will briefly review the evidence for free radical involvement in each of these processes. 

Studies of both acute and chronic pancreatitis in humans and in animals support the hypothesis that free radicals are involved in the pathogenesis of pancreatitis. There is some conflicting data from the animal work, which may in part be due to differences in the models used. It does also indicate that free radicals are not the only factors involved and su ests that activation of pancreatic enzymes are also imprortant, particularly in the development of haemorrhagic pancreatitis (Sanfey, 1991). The findings of decreased antioxidant defences and the success of treatment reported in chronic pancreatitis with a cocktail of antioxidants and with allopurinol surest further studies are required to establish the role of antioxidants in pancreatic disease and its prevention. 

Oxidation of cellular components by reactive oxygen species (ROS) and free radicals is involved in a variety of serious acute and chronic diseases inflammation [56], ischemia-reperfusion damage [57,58], limg disease [59], kidney damage [60], atherosclerosis, diabetes, allergies, cancer and aging [61]. 

Free radicals are not just esoteric reactants they are the agents of cell death and destruction. They are involved in all chronic disease states (e.g., coronary artery disease, diabetes mellitus, arthritis, and emphysema) as well as acute injury (e.g., radiation, strokes, myocardial infarction, and spinal cord injury). Through free radical defense mechanisms in our cells, we can often restrict the damage attributed to the "normal" aging process. 

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