The Specificity of Antioxidants: A Review

Abstract

Antioxidants are substances that provide protection to the body against reactive chemical species. When oxidative damage is not prevented or reversed, some pathology may occur. Naturally, there are enzymatic antioxidants (example: superoxide dismutase) and non-enzymatic (example: glutathione) in the cell, and some are incorporated through the diet (example: vitamins). These substances exhibit specificity when carrying out their activity, that is why it is necessary to experiment their effects on different substrates. In the medical field, antioxidants have gained fame and relevance because currently favorable evidence has been found in the combat of different health disorders, using different experimental models. The objective of this review is the search of recent scientific reports in which the positive effects of antioxidants in the treatment of various pathologies are observed. The respective results are promising in the areas of prevention and treatment.