title: Correlations and apparent contradictions in assessment of oxidant stress status in vivo.
abstract: Oxidative modifications of biological molecules are essential, but uncontrolled or excessive oxidative activities appear to contribute to many disease states. The mechanisms through which excess oxidant activities cause injury have been studied most extensively for acute responses, particularly for drug-induced tissue damage and cell death, but substantial evidence suggests that chronically elevated oxidative activity may contribute to the development of diseases such as cancer. It is important that the correlation between oxidant stress status and cancer risk be examined directly in humans. A number of methods have been developed for assessing oxidant activities by measuring oxidized products in biological systems, but cross-comparison studies of these different methods are needed. In studies of mechanisms of acute hepatotoxicity, assessments of oxidant stress responses by different analytical methods often have provided data that appear at first glance to be contradictory. Marked oxidant stress responses may be indicated by one or more methods of analysis despite the lack of detectable change in other parameters, whereas in a second experimental model the responses may be reversed. These observations emphasize the need to integrate different analytical approaches into the assessment of oxidant activity in vivo and illustrate the importance for developing a better understanding of the chemical and physiological mechanisms through which the analytical methodologies are related.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030.
authors.forename: C V
authors.initials: CV
authors.lastname: Smith
mesh_terms: D002470:Cell Survival; D004980:Ethane / Q000378:metabolism*; D005609:Free Radicals; D005978:Glutathione / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000378:metabolism; D019803:Glutathione Disulfide; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism; D010100:Oxygen / Q000378:metabolism*; D010420:Pentanes / Q000378:metabolism*; D013312:Stress, Physiological
chemical_list: D005609:Free Radicals; D010420:Pentanes; D005978:Glutathione; D004980:Ethane; D010100:Oxygen; D019803:Glutathione Disulfide