Part of the book: Oxidative Stress and Chronic Degenerative Diseases
Oxidative stress (OxS) constitutes a disturbance caused by an imbalance between the generation of free radicals and antioxidant system, which causes damage to biomolecules. This, in turn, may lead the body to the occurrence of many chronic degenerative diseases. Therefore, it is very important to know the functioning of those endogenous (and exogenous) antioxidants systems to prevent such diseases. Due to evolutionary conditions in living beings, among other functions have been developed and selected defense systems against the deleterious action of free radicals. Such systems are intrinsic in cells (at level intracellular and extracellular) and act together with the dietary exogenous antioxidants. All these antioxidant systems have very important role in preserving the oxide/reduction equilibrium in the cell. To understand the role of the transcription factor Nrf2 in regulating the processes of antioxidant defense, it must also know the role of many of the endogenous antioxidants that occur because of its activation. Therefore, this chapter makes a literature review of the most important general aspects of endogenous antioxidant systems, which will provide another point of view from which to approach the study and treatment of many chronic degenerative diseases, such as diabetes, hypertension, and Parkinson.
Part of the book: The Transcription Factor Nrf2
This chapter deals with the ozonization process of the emu oil, the objective of this study was to quantitatively determine the peroxide value (PV) to measure the degree of ozonation, the peroxide value measures the number of peroxide groups in the ozonized oil. The ozone oxidizes the unsaturated chemical functions present in the oil giving a high cure rate for epidermal wounds. The healing process is not completely understood and there are different approaches, therefore, it was determined qualitatively if it has healing and inflammation properties, but the results of our studies have shown that the length and width of the wounds were healing quickly thanks to the peroxidation rate of the oils. In addition, both tests were correlated to obtain a greater appreciation of their functions, the mechanism involves a decrease in the inflammation of the wounds and stimulates the process of scar formation.
Part of the book: Antioxidants
In this chapter, we report previous results about advances of an electrolysis process developed for breakdown of endocrine disrupting drugs in aqueous media. The objective is to achieve the breakdown of two drugs: trimethoprim and a mixture of clavulanic acid-amoxicillin (1:7) with an electrolytic cell by means of oxidization-reduction reactions. The evaluation of the process was carried out using spectrometry techniques UV-Vis, thin layer chromatography (TLC), chemical oxygen demand (COD), and total organic carbon (TOC). Handcrafted mineral carbon electrodes doped with titanium dioxide were designed, platinum and copper wires were placed, and a potassium hydroxide solution was used as electrolyte. The electrolyte, being an alkaline salt, allows the transport of charges from one side to the other, and electrode doped with titanium dioxide is used in order to help the electronic transfer, and the mineral carbon, having a strong affinity for organic and non-polar compounds, performs an adsorption process. Results from several performed assays showed that after 1 hour of treatment, it can be seen the breakdown of the drugs present in a synthetic wastewater solution.
Part of the book: Electrodialysis