Pathological conditions that predispose to cardiovascular events, such as hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and diabetes, are associated with oxidative stress. These observations and further data derived from a plethora of investigations provided accumulating evidence that oxidative stress is decisively involved in the pathogenesis of endothelial dysfunction and atherosclerosis. Several enzym...

The activity of enzyme systems catalyzing the metabolism of drugs and other chemicals foreign to the body varies with the species, sex, genetic background, and the physiologic state of the animal. A variety of drugs and chemicals which cause increases in the activity of microsomal drug-metabolizing enzymes have been reported.1' 2 There is a decrease or lack of oxidative drug-metabolizing enzyme...

The insulin resistance of skeletal muscle in glucose-tolerant obese individuals is associated with reduced activity of oxidative enzymes and a disproportionate increase in activity of glycolytic enzymes. Because non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) is a disorder characterized by even more severe insulin resistance of skeletal muscle and because many individuals with NIDDM are obese, ...

BACKGROUND Several studies suggested that women may be more susceptible to oxidative damage induced by cigarette smoking, but the role of smoking status and antioxidant capacity in gender difference in susceptibility to oxidative damage has not been well studied. METHODS We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of the baseline data from 146 current and former heavy smokers enrolled in a chemop...

Background: Probiotics have attracted a great attention aiming to develop natural non-toxic antioxidants, because of their role in decreasing the risk of reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess the antioxidant activity of a probiotic Streptococcus salivarius ssp thermophillus (St.sa) and to evaluate its protective effect against the ...