Detection of oxidative stress in neurodegenerative diseases

Oxidative stress is a metabolic condition generating from the disproportion between the production of potentially reactive oxygen species and the scavenging activities. Increased level of reactive oxygen species may cause increased oxidative damage of biomolecules, an accumulation of this damage, and the development of many pathogenic conditions, especially the ones that implicate the human brain. Mitochondrial oxidative damage as well as oxidative nucleoside damage could be a significant issue in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases. In order to demonstrate the potential contribution of reactive oxygen species in normal aging and especially Alzheimer´s disease this research will try to examine if there is a differentiation between the levels of oxidative stress in healthy subjects and patients suffering from the disease. Furthermore, we shall try to demonstrate if the early detection of reactive oxygen species could be used as a prognostic factor for the development of neurodegenerative diseases.