Oxidative Stress News and Research

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Oxidative Stress is a condition in which antioxidant levels are lower than normal. Antioxidant levels are usually measured in blood plasma.

Lycopene can kill prostate cancer cells

A nutrient in cooked tomatoes has been shown in laboratory studies to slow the growth of or even kill prostate cancer cells.

31 Jan 2012

Study finds protein's entwined arm movements may control fate of potentially toxic payload

Like a magician employing sleight of hand, the protein mitoNEET -- a mysterious but important player in diabetes, cancer and aging -- draws the eye with a flurry of movement in one location while the subtle, more crucial action takes place somewhere else.

30 Jan 2012

Cocoa can help prevent onset of colon carcinogenesis

A new study on living animals has shown for the first time that eating cocoa (the raw material in chocolate) can help to prevent intestinal complaints linked to oxidative stress, including colon carcinogenesis onset caused by chemical substances.

24 Jan 2012

Neuronal energy deficit may cause Parkinson's disease

Scientists at the University of York have made a significant step forward in isolating the cause of Parkinson's disease in younger adults.

17 Jan 2012

Grapes offer dramatic protection against age-related macular degeneration

Can eating grapes slow or help prevent the onset of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a debilitating condition affecting millions of elderly people worldwide? Results from a new study published in Free Radical Biology and Medicine suggest this might be the case. The antioxidant actions of grapes are believed to be responsible for these protective effects.

12 Jan 2012

Losartan may help prevent smoking-related COPD

Working with mice, scientists at Johns Hopkins have successfully used a commonly prescribed blood pressure medicine, losartan (Cozaar), to prevent almost all of the lung damage caused from two months of exposure to cigarette smoke. The treatment specifically targeted lung tissue breakdown, airway wall thickening, inflammation and lung over-expansion.

4 Jan 2012

Four or more coffees reduce risk of womb cancer

According to a new study drinking four or more cups of coffee a day may reduce risk of developing endometrial cancer or womb cancer by almost 25 per cent.

1 Jan 2012

Researchers decode and characterize DNA repair mechanism

Oxidative stress is the cause of many serious diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer's, arteriosclerosis and diabetes. It occurs when the body is exposed to excessive amounts of electrically charged, aggressive oxygen compounds. These are normally produced during breathing and other metabolic processes, but also in the case of ongoing stress, exposure to UV light or X-rays. If the oxidative stress is too high, it overwhelms the body's natural defences. The aggressive oxygen compounds destroy genetic material, resulting in what are referred to as harmful 8-oxo-guanine base mutations in the DNA.

28 Dec 2011

Study unveils mechanisms behind neurological effects of penitrem A

The mould fungus Penicillium crustosum occurs relatively frequently in food and animal fodder stored in temperate conditions. This mould produces powerful neurotoxins, for example penitrem A, which causes symptoms that are difficult to distinguish from those of other neurological diseases.

16 Dec 2011

HDE and DEP exposure can lead to development of asthma

A study conducted by researchers at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) has found that diesel exhaust particulates (DEP) and house dust extract (HDE) causes pulmonary inflammation that aggravates asthma.

15 Dec 2011

Antioxidant can delay onset of all indicators of Alzheimer's

When you cut an apple and leave it out, it turns brown. Squeeze the apple with lemon juice, an antioxidant, and the process slows down. Simply put, that same "browning" process-known as oxidative stress-happens in the brain as Alzheimer's disease sets in. The underlying cause is believed to be improper processing of a protein associated with the creation of free radicals that cause oxidative stress.

15 Dec 2011

Molecular signature indicative of hypoxia predicts progression to AD

A study led by Research Professor Matej Ore-ič from VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland suggests that Alzheimer's disease is preceded by a molecular signature indicative of hypoxia and up-regulated pentose phosphate pathway.

15 Dec 2011

Reata, Abbott partner to develop and commercialize AIMs for chronic diseases

Abbott and Reata Pharmaceuticals today announced that they have entered into a worldwide collaboration to jointly develop and commercialize Reata's portfolio of second-generation oral antioxidant inflammation modulators.

12 Dec 2011

Scientists identify importance of novel protein-regulating mechanism

For years, science has generally considered the phosphorylation of proteins -- the insertion of a phosphorous group into a protein that turns it on or off -- as perhaps the factor regulating a range of cellular processes from cell metabolism to programmed cell death. Now, scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have identified the importance of a novel protein-regulating mechanism -- called sulfenylation -- that is similar to phosphorylation and may, in fact, open up opportunities to develop new types of drugs for diseases such as cancer.

12 Dec 2011

Fatty livers burn more fat, not less

When our livers become loaded with fat, it isn't because they are slacking. A new study of human patients in the December Cell Metabolism shows that fatty livers actually burn more fat, not less. All that "hard work" may be at the root of the organ damage that comes with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), a condition associated with insulin resistance that affects about one in three in the U.S. population.

6 Dec 2011

Study evaluates whether genetic GST polymorphisms increase risk of ALD in alcoholics

It has been widely observed that only a small percentage of alcoholics develop cirrhosis of the liver, the most advanced form of alcoholic liver disease (ALD); the reason why all alcoholics do not develop such disease is not known. The present study from Spain, that includes original work and a meta-analysis, evaluates whether genetic polymorphisms that determine levels of glutathione-S-transferases (GST) relate to the risk of developing ALD among alcoholics.

6 Dec 2011

Biosensors can detect oxidant production in living organism

Arterial calcification and coronary heart disease, neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, cancer and even the aging process itself are suspected to be partially caused or accelerated by oxidative stress. Oxidative stress arises in tissues when there is an excess of what are called reactive oxygen species.

6 Dec 2011

Researchers discover why men more likely than women to develop squamous cell skin cancer

Men are three times more likely than women to develop a common form of skin cancer but medical science doesn't know why. A new study may provide part of the answer.

2 Dec 2011

CWRU receives NHLBI grant to study sleep apnea as possible cause of AF

Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine has received a $3.8 million grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) to study sleep apnea as a possible cause of atrial fibrillation (AF), the most commonly diagnosed type of arrhythmia, or irregular heart rhythm.

22 Nov 2011

Sluggish recycling of protein-slicing enzyme could promote Alzheimer's

Sluggish recycling of a protein-slicing enzyme could promote Alzheimer's disease, according to a study published online on November 21 in The Journal of Cell Biology.

22 Nov 2011