ABSTRACT
Asthma is a very common inammatory airway disease affecting millions of people throughout the world. Many studies have been carried out on the role of oxidants and antioxidants on asthmatic patients. This chapter attempts to present comprehensive studies on asthma with an emphasis on correlations between pulmonary oxidants/antioxidants and lung function. The lung has several defense networks employing antioxidants to counteract reactive oxygen species (ROS) produced during normal physiology. During asthma attack, innate/adaptive immune cells such as macrophages, neutrophils, eosinophils, and epithelial cells in lung produce signicant amounts of ROS. Excessive ROS generation during asthmatic inammation overwhelms antioxidant defenses and leads to their depletion/dysfunction. This usually leads to pulmonary injury through the dysfunction of lipid membranes, proteins, and DNA, resulting in increased vascular permeability, mucus secretion, smooth muscle contraction, and epithelial shedding. This chapter describes how pulmonary superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and total nonenzymatic antioxidant abilities are
Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... 189 14.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 190 14.2 Sources of Oxidants in the Lung .......................................................................................... 190
14.2.1 Primary Oxidants ..................................................................................................... 190 14.2.2 Secondary Oxidants and Markers of Oxidant-Mediated
Damage on Biomolecules ......................................................................................... 191 14.3 Pulmonary Oxidative Stress in Asthmatics .......................................................................... 192
14.3.1 Increased Production of Primary Oxidants in Asthmatics....................................... 192 14.3.2 Indirect Measurements of Oxidative Stress in Asthmatics ...................................... 193
14.4 Antioxidants in the Lung ...................................................................................................... 195 14.4.1 Nonenzymatic Antioxidants in the Lung .................................................................. 195 14.4.2 Enzymatic Antioxidants in the Lung ........................................................................ 196
14.5 Pulmonary Antioxidant Dysregulation in Asthmatics ......................................................... 197 14.5.1 Alterations in Nonenzymatic Antioxidants in Asthmatics ....................................... 197 14.5.2 Alterations in Enzymatic Antioxidants in Asthmatics ............................................. 197
14.6 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 198 Acknowledgments .......................................................................................................................... 199 References ...................................................................................................................................... 199
important predictors of lung function in asthma. Therefore, boosting of endogenous antioxidants either through dietary or pharmacological intervention may be benecial through the attenuation of ROS-mediated damage in asthmatic lung.
