Free radicals and ischemic tissue injury

Abstract

There is growing evidence that reperfusion of ischemic organs is associated with the formation of free radicals that exacerbate the ischemic injury. Free radicals may damage viable tissue via the peroxidation of lipids and oxidation of protein sulfhydryl groups, leading to perturbations of membrane permeability and enzyme function. Steven Werns and Benedict Lucchesi discuss evidence that activated neutrophils are an important source of free radicals after cardiac and intestinal ischemia, and assess the strategies that have been investigated as ways of alleviating damage caused by free radicals during ischemia-reperfusion.