Impact of Lifestyles (Diet and Exercise) on Vascular Health: Oxidative Stress and Endothelial Function

Figure 1

Oxidative stress occurs when the ROS production exceeds antioxidant defense. Generation of ROS is a normal physiological process. Under normal conditions, deleterious ROS are mostly removed by cellular antioxidant systems including functional endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), superoxidase dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, heme oxygenase, thioredoxin peroxidase, and paraoxonase. Sources of ROS including nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase, cyclooxygenase, xanthine oxidase, lipooxygenase, cytochrome P450, and dysfunctional eNOS are augmented resulting in oxidative stress and related endothelial dysfunction.