Modulation of Oxidative Stress: Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Aspects 2017

Notwithstanding the fact that the multiple roles of oxidative stress in human biology and pathology have been intensely discussed over the last half century, the problem is still far beyond our full comprehension. Thus, in a comparatively short history of oxidative medicine, the roles of two major heroes, free radicals and antioxidants, have been entirely redefined. Free radicals and other reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, widely recognized two-three decades ago as absolute evils leading to and/or accompanying damage to biologically important molecules and structures, have been recently transformed into positive actors, in the appreciation of their essential impact in the intracellular signaling on the organism's defense against biotic and abiotic stresses. Several original research papers published in this special issue have been focused on this subject.