Title:Oxidative Stress and Antioxidant Potential of One Hundred Medicinal Plants
Volume: 17
Issue: 12
Author(s): Waseem Hassan, Hamsa Noreen, Shakila Rehman, Shehnaz Gul, Mohammad Amjad Kamal, Jean Paul Kamdem, Bakht Zaman and Joao B.T. da Rocha
Affiliation:
Keywords:
Oxidative Stress, Antioxidants, Medicinal Plants, Pro-oxidant, Redox Reaction.
Abstract: Reactive species are produced in biological system because of redox reactions. The imbalance
in pro-oxidant and antioxidant homeostasis leads to the production of toxic reactive oxygen and
nitrogen species like hydrogen peroxide, organic peroxides, hydroxyl radicals, superoxide anion and
nitric oxide. Inactivation of metabolic enzymes, oxidation of biomolecules and cellular damage are
some of the prominent characteristics of reactive species. Similarly, oxidative stress has been associated
with more than one hundred (100) pathologies such as atherosclerosis, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases,
pancreatic and liver diseases, joint disorders, cardiac fibrosis, acute respiratory distress syndrome, neurological
diseases (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Huntington’s disorder, Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s
disease), ageing and cancer etc. The toxicity of reactive species is balanced by the integrated
antioxidant systems, which include enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants. Antioxidant therapies or
defenses protect the biological sites by removing or quenching the free radicals (prooxidants). Medicinal
plants can not only protect the oxidative damage, but also play a vital role in health maintenance and
prevention of chronic degenerative diseases. This review will provide a valuable discussion of one hundred
(100) well known medicinal plants, which may add to the optimization of antioxidants rank. Besides,
some of the antioxidant evaluation techniques or mechanisms via which medicinal plants act as
antioxidants are also described.
