title: Measuring oxidative damage in humans: relation to cancer and ageing.
abstract: Many uncertainties remain about the free-radical theory of ageing and the role of oxidative damage to DNA in cancer. The chemistry and biochemistry of radical-induced DNA damage are now well characterized in vitro, but the complexity of in-vivo systems leaves this area still largely unexplored. Measurement of thymine and thymidine glycols in urine may be a means of assaying background levels of radical-induced DNA damage in live organisms. Similar approaches may prove useful for testing some of the predictions of the free-radical theory of ageing and of the contribution of free radicals to cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, University of California, Berkeley.
authors.forename: B N
authors.initials: BN
authors.lastname: Ames
mesh_terms: D000080242:8-Hydroxy-2'-Deoxyguanosine; D000375:Aging; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000494:pharmacology; D004249:DNA Damage; D003849:Deoxyguanosine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000652:urine; D005609:Free Radicals; D006801:Humans; D008054:Lipid Peroxides / Q000032:analysis; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology*; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants; D005609:Free Radicals; D008054:Lipid Peroxides; D000080242:8-Hydroxy-2'-Deoxyguanosine; D003849:Deoxyguanosine