Clinical relevance of oxygen radicals in inflammatory bowel disease--facts and fashion.

Oxygen radicals particularly superoxide and hydroxyl radicals are very reactive species believed to be involved in cell and tissue damage in a variety of diseases including inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Today there are four major arguments for such a role in IBD: Infiltration of the inflamed intestinal mucosa with myeloperoxidase containing activated neutrophils able to produce superoxide, hydroxyl and hypochlorite, increased chemoluminescence response of peripheral and mucosal phagocytic cells to various stimuli, decreased inflammation following specific scavenger treatment in animal models of colitis and defined radical scavenger and inhibitory properties of drugs, especially aminosalicylates used in the therapy of IBD. In the absence of a specific therapy, radical scavenging and/or inhibition may be an adjunctive modality in IBD.