Role of Reactive Oxygen Species in Inflammation: A Minireview

Inflammation is a protective response of a multicellular organism to injury in order to localize, eliminate, and remove harmful stimuli as well as to recover (or replace) damaged tissues. There recently has been increasing evidence that reactive oxygen species (ROS) are involved in the initiation, progression, and resolution of the inflammatory response. Furthermore, ROS act as microbicidal agents and second messengers in the intracellular signaling. The latter function is performed via posttranslational modification of protein- associated redox-sensitive cysteine residues that can undergo oxidation. At the same time, there is clear evidence that overproduction of ROS may result in cell and tissue injury and contribute to chronic inflammation underlying many neurodegenerative, cardiovascular, and metabolic diseases. This review has focused on the role of ROS in the key inflammatory events (increased vascular permeability and leukocyte extravasation, respiratory burst and phagocytosis, and angiogenesis) and some events leading to the resolution of inflammation. In addition, the pathological function of ROS in oxidative stress is discussed.