Dear Colleagues,

Generation of reactive oxygen species is part of the essential metabolic pathways operating inside the body; however, the imbalance between their generation and detoxification abilities leads to oxidative stress. Oxidative stress plays an etiopathogenetic role in a variety of conditions, including cardiovascular diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, epilepsy, and cancer. Increasing evidence also shows the resulting oxidative stress can dramatically affect the clinical response to various drugs by affecting the drug metabolism or efflux pathways, worsening the diseased condition. The use of antioxidants has been well established as a therapy for oxidative stress-related pathologies; however, recently, the role of antioxidants has been significantly redefined. The hypothesis that “classical antioxidants” (radical scavengers) could always be beneficial for human health has been questioned by several epidemiological and clinical studies. Considering these pitfalls, a more favorable approach would be to target the oxidative stress-induced signaling pathways involved in disease etiology or the regulation of metabolic enzymes and efflux transporters. Oxidative stress activates the cascade of downstream proteins and transcription factors, including protein kinase cascade, NRF2, NF-KB, AP1, etc. Hence, understanding these pathways can provide potential therapeutic targets to manage pathologies accompanying oxidative stress. This Special Issue will collect papers on the main pharmacological aspects of oxidative stress, with special attention to the modulation of Nrf2, and, in particular, to the beneficial effects of the pro-oxidant activity of inhibitors of Nrf2 in cancer.

Selected references

Panieri E, Saso L. Potential Applications of NRF2 Inhibitors in Cancer Therapy. Oxid Med Cell Longev. 2019

Singh A, Kukreti R, Saso L, Kukreti S. Oxidative Stress: A Key Modulator in Neurodegenerative Diseases. Molecules. 2019;24(8):1583.

Telkoparan-Akillilar P, Suzen S, Saso L. Pharmacological Applications of Nrf2 Inhibitors as Potential Antineoplastic Drugs. Int J Mol Sci. 2019;20(8):2025.

Sova M, Saso L. Design and development of Nrf2 modulators for cancer chemoprevention and therapy: a review. Drug Des Devel Ther. 2018;12:3181–3197.

Grewal GK, Kukal S, Kanojia N, Saso L, Kukreti S, Kukreti R. Effect of Oxidative Stress on ABC Transporters: Contribution to Epilepsy Pharmacoresistance. Molecules. 2017;22(3):365.

Sari E, Tunc-Sarisozen Y, Mutlu H, Shahbazi R, Ucar G, Ulubayram K. ICAM-1 targeted catalase encapsulated PLGA-b-PEG nanoparticles against vascular oxidative stress. J Microencapsul. 2015;32(7):687–698.

Prof. Dr. Luciano Saso
Dr. Ritushree Kukreti
Dr. Gulberk Ucar
Guest Editors

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