Reactive Oxygen Metabolites and Colitis; A Disturbed Balance between Damage and Protection: A Selective Review

Enhanced local production of reactive oxygen metabolites has been found in association with colitis, both experimentally and in humans. Cellular and biochemical systems involved have been identified, and 5-aminosalicylic acid-containing drugs but, more effectively, specific scavengers have been found to reduce the intestinal inflammatory process. The multitude of reactions in which oxygen metabolites participate provides a new area of research in intestinal inflammation. These basic studies might bring related clinical studies in an era of new anti-inflammatory drugs for inflammatory bowel disease specifically designed to scavenge toxic oxygen metabolites.