Going retro: Oxidative stress biomarkers in modern redox biology

• Oxidative stress biomarkers diagnose oxidative stress.
• Oxidative stress biomarkers pinpoint redox components in biological process.
• Oxidative stress biomarkers estimate severity/progression/regression of disease.
• Oxidative stress biomarkers do not report on redox signaling.

The field of redox biology is inherently intertwined with oxidative stress biomarkers. Oxidative stress biomarkers have been utilized for many different objectives. Our analysis indicates that oxidative stress biomarkers have several salient applications: (1) diagnosing oxidative stress, (2) pinpointing likely redox components in a physiological or pathological process and (3) estimating the severity, progression and/or regression of a disease. On the contrary, oxidative stress biomarkers do not report on redox signaling. Alternative approaches to gain more mechanistic insights are: (1) measuring molecules that are integrated in pathways linking redox biochemistry with physiology, (2) using the exomarker approach and (3) exploiting -omics techniques. More sophisticated approaches and large trials are needed to establish oxidative stress biomarkers in the clinical setting.

Figure optionsDownload high-quality image (104 K)Download as PowerPoint slide