Chapter 29 – Oxidative Stress and Excitotoxicity: Antioxidants from Nutraceuticals

Oxidative stress is implicated in a variety of human diseases. Reactive radicals derived from molecular oxygen (reactive oxygen species) and nitrogen (reactive nitrogen species) readily attack a variety of critical biological molecules, including lipids, DNA, and essential cellular proteins, cause alterations in normal cell and organ physiology, and activate and/or accelerate disease processes. Oxidative stress, an imbalance between the generation of free radicals and antioxidant defense systems, is also associated with cell response to a variety of toxicants. This chapter analyzes oxidative stress, its biomarkers, and the cell response to excitotoxicity, and also presents evidence of oxidative injury attenuation following exposure to deferent antioxidant systems.