Role of oxidative stress in neurodegenerative disorders: a review of reactive oxygen species and prevention by antioxidants

Abstract Neurological disorders include a variety of conditions, including Alzheimer’s disease, motor neuron disease and Parkinson’s disease, affecting longevity and quality of life, and their pathogenesis is associated with oxidative stress. Several of the chronic neurodegenerative pathologies of the CNS share some common features, such as oxidative stress, inflammation, synapse dysfunctions, protein misfolding and defective autophagia. Neuroinflammation can involve the activation of mast cells, contributing to oxidative stress, in addition to other sources of reactive oxygen species. Antioxidants can powerfully neutralize reactive oxygen species and free radicals, decreasing oxidative damage. Antioxidant genes, like the manganese superoxide dismutase enzyme, can undergo epigenetic changes that reduce their expression, thus increasing oxidative stress in tissue. Alternatively, DNA can be altered by free radical damage. The epigenetic landscape of these genes can change antioxidant function and may result in neurodegenerative disease. This imbalance of free radical production and antioxidant function increases the reactive oxygen species that cause cell damage in neurons and is often observed as an age-related event. Increased antioxidant expression in mice is protective against reactive oxygen species in neurons as is the exogenous supplementation of antioxidants. Manganese superoxide dismutase requires manganese for its enzymic function. Antioxidant therapy is considered for age-related neurodegenerative diseases, and a new mimetic of a manganese superoxide dismutase, avasopasem manganese, is described and suggested as a putative treatment to reduce the oxidative stress that causes neurodegenerative disease. The aim of this narrative review is to explore the evidence that oxidative stress causes neurodegenerative damage and the role of antioxidant genes in inhibiting reactive oxygen species damage. Can the neuronal environment of oxidative stress, causing neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration, be reduced or reversed?