Oxidative Stress Monitoring: Needs and Opportunities

Oxidative stress is characterized by the diminished capacity of a biological system to overcome the overproduction of reactive species (RS) and free radicals (FR). This process has been related to the pathogenesis of virtually every disease. Since this process is a leading cause of many diseases (e.g., ischemic stroke, heart failure, hypertension, cardiomyopathy, rheumatoid arthritis, β-thalassemia, and myelodysplastic syndrome), there is an urgent need for its monitoring. Detecting the levels of this oxidation could provide an early warning signal as biochemical markers of oxidative stress are a feasible way of early detection of these diseases. The lack of accessibility of appropriate early predictors of these diseases has determined that vulnerable patients should be identified on the basis oxidative stress status in their body. Therefore, global indicators of oxidative stress represent a convenient tool for patient stratification and can be used to assess novel therapeutic approaches that target oxidative stress. Indeed, several lines of evidence support a beneficial role of antioxidant supplementation in attenuating oxidative events involved in several chronic diseases. In this chapter, clinical trials are summarized for major oxidative stress-related disorders. The efficacy of antioxidant treatments with particular focus on the evaluation of oxidative stress biomarkers is also presented. The chapter also explores opportunities to improve the diagnosis of disease and the design of new therapeutic agents. In addition, it presents the clinical evidence to support the monitoring of the levels of therapeutic antioxidants in patients with oxidative stress-related diseases.