Valavanidis Athanasios, Vlahogianni Thomais, Dassenakis Manos, Scoullos Michael
Laboratory of Organic Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, Free Radical Research Group, University of Athens, University Campus Zografou, 15771 Athens, Greece.
Ecotoxicol Environ Saf. 2006 Jun;64(2):178-89. doi: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2005.03.013.
The potential of oxygen free radicals and other reactive oxygen species (ROS) to damage tissues and cellular components, called oxidative stress, in biological systems has become a topic of significant interest for environmental toxicology studies. The balance between prooxidant endogenous and exogenous factors (i.e., environmental pollutants) and antioxidant defenses (enzymatic and nonenzymatic) in biological systems can be used to assess toxic effects under stressful environmental conditions, especially oxidative damage induced by different classes of chemical pollutants. The role of these antioxidant systems and their sensitivity can be of great importance in environmental toxicology studies. In the past decade, numerous studies on the effects of oxidative stress caused by some environmental pollutants in terrestrial and aquatic species were published. Increased numbers of agricultural and industrial chemicals are entering the aquatic environment and being taken up into tissues of aquatic organisms. Transition metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, organochlorine and organophosphate pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls, dioxins, and other xenobiotics play important roles in the mechanistic aspects of oxidative damage. Such a diverse array of pollutants stimulate a variety of toxicity mechanisms, such as oxidative damage to membrane lipids, DNA, and proteins and changes to antioxidant enzymes. Although there are considerable gaps in our knowledge of cellular damage, response mechanisms, repair processes, and disease etiology in biological systems, free radical reactions and the production of toxic ROS are known to be responsible for a variety of oxidative damages leading to adverse health effects and diseases. In the past decade, mammalian species were used as models for the study of molecular biomarkers of oxidative stress caused by environmental pollutants to elucidate the mechanisms underlying cellular oxidative damage and to study the adverse effects of some environmental pollutants with oxidative potential in chronic exposure and/or sublethal concentrations. This review summarizes current knowledge and advances in the understanding of such oxidative processes in biological systems. This knowledge is extended to specific applications in aquatic organisms because of their sensitivity to oxidative pollutants, their filtration capacity, and their potential for environmental toxicology studies.
在生物系统中，氧自由基和其他活性氧物种（ROS）破坏组织和细胞成分的可能性，即氧化应激，已成为环境毒理学研究中一个备受关注的课题。生物系统中促氧化剂内源性和外源性因素（即环境污染物）与抗氧化防御（酶促和非酶促）之间的平衡，可用于评估在压力环境条件下的毒性效应，特别是不同类化学污染物引起的氧化损伤。这些抗氧化系统的作用及其敏感性在环境毒理学研究中可能非常重要。在过去十年中，发表了大量关于一些环境污染物在陆地和水生物种中引起氧化应激影响的研究。越来越多的农业和工业化学品进入水生环境并被水生生物组织吸收。过渡金属、多环芳烃、有机氯和有机磷农药、多氯联苯、二恶英和其他外源性物质在氧化损伤的机制方面发挥着重要作用。如此多样的污染物会引发多种毒性机制，如对膜脂质、DNA和蛋白质的氧化损伤以及抗氧化酶的变化。尽管我们在生物系统中细胞损伤、反应机制、修复过程和疾病病因学方面的知识存在相当大的差距，但已知自由基反应和有毒ROS的产生会导致各种氧化损伤，进而产生不良健康影响和疾病。在过去十年中，哺乳动物物种被用作研究环境污染物引起的氧化应激分子生物标志物的模型，以阐明细胞氧化损伤的潜在机制，并研究一些具有氧化潜力的环境污染物在慢性暴露和/或亚致死浓度下的不利影响。本综述总结了目前在理解生物系统中此类氧化过程方面的知识和进展。由于水生生物对氧化污染物敏感、具有过滤能力且具有环境毒理学研究潜力，因此这一知识被扩展到水生生物的具体应用中。
