Suzuki Keiichiro
Department of Biochemistry, Hyogo College of Medicine, Nishinomoya, Hyogo, Japan.
Adv Drug Deliv Rev. 2009 Apr 28;61(4):287-9. doi: 10.1016/j.addr.2009.03.002. Epub 2009 Mar 20.
It is well known that ROS are involved in a wide spectrum of diseases. In spite of this fact, only a few drugs are currently in use in clinical settings: Ebselen for the treatment of cerebral infarctions, N-acetylcysteine for over-doses of acetaminophen. Because ROS production is very common and the human body has an abundant capacity for producing anti-oxidants, it is difficult to obtain statistical differences in trials designed to evaluate an anti-oxidative drug. Additional resources will be needed, if we are to use anti-oxidants in human clinical settings; Drug delivery to a specific region, appropriate setting of evaluation goals in clinical trials, new approaches to understanding the details of anti-oxidative systems. In spite of these drawbacks, the additional use of anti-oxidants in clinical settings is clearly warranted, and could contribute positively to human health. It is generally thought that reactive oxygen species (ROS) are involved in a wide variety of diseases, including ischemia-reperfusion, cancer and various types of inflammation. Because of this, the therapeutic use of antioxidants is now widespread. Some of these have been shown to be successful, but many appear to have no or little benefit, in terms of being beneficial to general health or in disease prevention. In this commentary, the author takes a look back at important anti-oxidative drugs and wonders why only a few such drugs are currently in clinical use.
众所周知，活性氧（ROS）与多种疾病有关。尽管如此，目前临床中使用的此类药物却寥寥无几：用于治疗脑梗死的依布硒仑，用于对乙酰氨基酚过量的N-乙酰半胱氨酸。由于ROS的产生非常普遍，且人体具有丰富的抗氧化剂生成能力，因此在旨在评估抗氧化药物的试验中很难获得统计学差异。如果我们要在人类临床环境中使用抗氧化剂，就需要额外的资源；将药物输送到特定区域，在临床试验中合理设定评估目标，采用新方法来了解抗氧化系统的细节。尽管存在这些缺点，但在临床环境中额外使用抗氧化剂显然是有必要的，并且可能对人类健康产生积极影响。人们普遍认为，活性氧（ROS）与多种疾病有关，包括缺血再灌注、癌症和各种类型的炎症。因此，抗氧化剂的治疗用途现在很广泛。其中一些已被证明是成功的，但就对总体健康有益或疾病预防而言，许多似乎没有益处或益处甚微。在这篇评论中，作者回顾了重要的抗氧化药物，并思考为什么目前只有少数此类药物在临床中使用。
