Antioxidant Phytochemicals for the Prevention and Treatment of Chronic Diseases

Overproduction of oxidants (reactive oxygen species and reactive nitrogen species) in the human body is responsible for the pathogenesis of some diseases. The scavenging of these oxidants is thought to be an effective measure to depress the level of oxidative stress of organisms. It has been reporte...

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Published inMolecules (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 20; no. 12; pp. 21138 - 21156
Main Authors Zhang, Yu-Jie, Gan, Ren-You, Li, Sha, Zhou, Yue, Li, An-Na, Xu, Dong-Ping, Li, Hua-Bin
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Switzerland MDPI AG 27.11.2015
MDPI
Subjects
Animals
antioxidant phytochemicals
Antioxidants
Antioxidants - pharmacology
cancer
cardiovascular disease
Chronic Disease - prevention & control
Chronic illnesses
Disease prevention
health benefits
Humans
mechanism
Oxidative stress
Phytochemicals
Phytochemicals - pharmacology
Reactive oxygen species
Review
cardiovascular disease
antioxidant phytochemicals
cancer
health benefits
mechanism
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Summary:Overproduction of oxidants (reactive oxygen species and reactive nitrogen species) in the human body is responsible for the pathogenesis of some diseases. The scavenging of these oxidants is thought to be an effective measure to depress the level of oxidative stress of organisms. It has been reported that intake of vegetables and fruits is inversely associated with the risk of many chronic diseases, and antioxidant phytochemicals in vegetables and fruits are considered to be responsible for these health benefits. Antioxidant phytochemicals can be found in many foods and medicinal plants, and play an important role in the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases caused by oxidative stress. They often possess strong antioxidant and free radical scavenging abilities, as well as anti-inflammatory action, which are also the basis of other bioactivities and health benefits, such as anticancer, anti-aging, and protective action for cardiovascular diseases, diabetes mellitus, obesity and neurodegenerative diseases. This review summarizes recent progress on the health benefits of antioxidant phytochemicals, and discusses their potential mechanisms in the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases.
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ISSN:1420-3049
1420-3049
DOI:10.3390/molecules201219753