Antioxidant treatment in peripheral artery disease: the rationale is there, but what about clinical results?

Peripheral arterial disease is a major cause of morbidity and disability and has been consistently associated with an adverse overall prognosis. Oxidative stress has been linked to vascular disease, with several suggested pathogenetic mechanisms, leading to various insults of the arterial wall and, ultimately, to atherothrombotic disease. Considering that the pathophysiological background is quite compelling, attenuation of oxidative processes by means of various substances with antioxidant properties has been conceived as a promising therapeutic target. However, clinical results have been mostly disappointing and 'antioxidant' therapies are still far from being integrated into treatment algorithms for vascular disease.