Chapter 1. Overview of Reactive Oxygen Species

The term ROS (reactive oxygen species), has been coined to define an emerging class of endogenous, highly reactive, oxygen (and nitrogen) -bearing molecules. This chapter provides a general overview of reactive oxygen species including the chemical properties (electronic configuration and thermodynamics) of these species, their sources both endogenous and exogenous and their typical scavengers. The following sections summarize current literature on these topics providing a glimpse of the biological impact of ROS chemistry.