Oxidative stress in brain aging, neurodegenerative and vascular diseases: An overview

According to the free radical theory, aging can be considered as a progressive, inevitable process partially related to the accumulation of oxidative damage into biomolecules - nucleic acids, lipids, proteins or carbohydrates - due to an imbalance between prooxidants and antioxidants in favor of the former. More recently also the pathogenesis of several diseases has been linked to a condition of oxidative stress. In this review we focus our attention on the evidence of oxidative stress in aging brain, some of the most important neurodegenerative diseases - Alzheimer's disease (AD), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), Parkinson's disease (PD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Huntington's disease (HD) - and in two common and highly disabling vascular pathologies-stroke and cardiac failure. Particular attention will be given to the current knowledge about the biomarkers of oxidative stress that can be possibly used to monitor their severity and outcome.