ABSTRACT
Chronic lung diseases of the newborn may result from inflammation or oxygen therapy, a procedure aimed at maintaining adequate oxygen delivery to the brain and other organs. Both of these causes of chronic lung disease would be expected to involve injury from reactive oxygen metabolites. The literature abounds with reviews on the production of reactive oxygen species by inflammatory cells and pulmonary oxygen toxicity as a consequence of oxygen therapy. Inflammatory cells produce reactive oxygen species as part of their microbicidal action. This can unfortunately injure normal tissue as collateral damage in the war against bacteria. Oxygen toxicity likely originates from increased generation of hydrogen peroxide by the mitochondria and perhaps other organelles at high oxygen concentrations. In this chapter, we have described methods for evaluating the involvement of reactive oxygen species. As the reader will find inherent difficulties in measurement of reactive oxygen species makes assessment of the contribution of these species to diseases, such as bronchopulmonary dysplasia, a monumental task. Fortunately, some of the newer methods described below may lead the way toward a more rigorous evaluation of cause and effect between chronic diseases of early infancy and production of reactive oxygen species.
