Oxidative Stress and Vascular Disease

The purpose of this book is to provide the reader with an overview of oxidative stress as it pertains to vascular diseases. The first part of the book is designed to help the reader grapple with important issues such as: Precisely what is oxidative stress? What markers are available to assess oxidative stress? and What are the precise sources of oxidative stress and antioxidant defenses in the vasculature? With this information as background, the book goes on to address the major vascular disease syndromes for which there is good evidence that oxidative stress may be involved. The greatest body of evidence exists for atherosclerosis and, accordingly, this is the most extensive section. However, we have taken great care to try and provide the reader with objective evidence for the role of oxidative stress in other diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and vascular remodeling. In each instance, the book is designed to provide a solid overview of the basic science data required to evaluate the role of oxidative stress. Animal data is then presented and finally, where applicable, the role of oxidative stress in human disease is discussed with the appropriate reference to epidemiologic data. The book is designed to appeal to both scientists and clinicians with an interest in vascular disease and its underlying pathophysiology.