Antioxidant Therapy in Neurological Disorders

Abstract

Oxygen derived free radical species have been implicated in an increasing number of disease processes (Halliwell and Gutteridge 1985a) including neurological disorders (Halliwell and Gutteridge 1985b), and as a result antioxidant therapy has been suggested for a number of diseases affecting the nervous system. in vivo antioxidant defenses can be divided into 2 categories. Firstly preventative antioxidants such as catalase and glutathione peroxidase which prevent the formation of free radical species, and secondly chain breaking antioxidants such as Superoxide dismutase, ascorbate, urate and vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) which trap oxygen derived free radicals and halt the chain reaction. This paper will concentrate on the therapeutic role of vitamin E in neurological disorders, as in practice the administration of this fat soluble vitamin is a simple and safe way of altering antioxidant status in vivo. Alpha-tocopherol is also potentially important as it is the only well recognised lipid soluble chain breaking antioxidant in vivo (Burton et al 1983) and may, therefore, be expected to play an important role in such highly lipid structures as the brain, spinal cord and peripheral nerves.