Humana Methods in Biological Oxidative Stress (Methods in Pharmacology and Toxicology)

Oxidative damage appears to play a central role in the development of a wide range of tissue pathology, including neurodegenerative disease, drug side-effects, xenobiotic toxicity, carcinogenesis, and the aging process, to name just a few. Because of the centrality of oxidative processes to normal and abnormal tissue function, it has become imperative to develop appropriate analytical techniques to facilitate the quantitation of significant reactants. Without advances in methodology, corresponding advances in our knowledge of underlying biochemical events will be necessarily limited. Drs. Hensley and Floyd have done an outstanding job of assembling the work of world-class experts into Methods in Biological Oxidative Stress. The contributors have presented concise, yet thorough, descriptions of the state-of-the-art methods that any investigator working in the field needs to access. Mannfred A. Hollinger v Preface Free radicals and reactive oxidizing agents were once ignored as biochemical entities not worth close scrutiny, but are now recognized as causes or contributing factors in dozens, if not hundreds, of disease states. In addition, free radical metabolisms of xenobiotics have become increasingly important to pharmacologists. Accordingly, the need has arisen to accurately quantify reactive oxygen species and their byproducts. Methods in Biological Oxidative Stress is practical in scope, providing the details of up-to-date techniques for measuring oxidative stress and detecting oxidizing agents both in vitro and in vivo. The contributors are recognized experts in the field of oxidative stress who have developed novel strategies for studying biological oxidations. From the Back Cover Free radicals and reactive oxidizing agents are now recognized as causes or contributing factors in inflammation and other disease states and have become a major focus of interest in pharmacology, toxicology, physiology, and biochemistry. In Methods in Biological Oxidative Stress, expert researchers detail their best experimental methods for detecting free radicals and reactive oxygen species or their byproducts. The techniques range from established standard protocols to advanced methodologies using HPLC, mass spectrometry, and electron paramagnetic resonance. The HPLC techniques are applied to the electrochemical measurement of protein oxidation products, particularly nitrotyrosine and dityrosine, and to the electrochemical detection of DNA oxidation products. There are also mass spectrometry methods for measuring lipid oxidation products. Each technique is described in step-by-step detail to ensure robust results, with many presented by the experimenters who have led their development. Useful notes explain the pitfalls to avoid and the chemical principles underlying each method. Authoritative and highly practical, Methods in Biological Oxidative Stress provides laboratory researchers and technicians a unique collection of standard, easy-to-use experimental methods for oxidative stress bioanalysis, plus cutting-edge instrumental techniques using HPLC, mass spectrometry, and EPR spectrometry.