Biological redox activity: Its importance, methods for its quantification and implication for health and disease

Cellular redox phenomena are involved in numerous biochemical pathways and play a key role in many pathological events and clinical situations. The ov erall oxidation/reduction (redox) state present in biological compartments is a major target for possible pharmaceutical intervention and, consequentl y, the processes associated with its change have attracted increased attent ion in recent years. This overview describes the methods for evaluating the concentrations of redox active compounds and their redox activity and the methods for evaluating the overall biological fluids and tissues redox capa city, with a focus on the redox potential parameter, its modulation, its me asurement, and its importance for diagnosis and treatment. Examples of volt ammetric measurement of reducing power profiles of biological tissues and f luids in healthy and disease states are discussed. (C) 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc .