Role of glutathione in the pathophysiology of pre-eclampsia: implications for nutritional intervention

Abstract

Oxidative stress (OS) can be simply defined as an imbalance between free radical formation and antioxidant defenses. Free radicals (reactive oxygen species, reactive nitrogen species) potentially lead to a cascade of biochemical events that disrupt normal cellular function. OS has been proposed that they play a part in the pathogenesis of many disease processes including cancer,[3,4] arteriosclerosis,[5–8] Alzheimer’s Disease,[9,10] pulmonary disease,[11,12] and a number of gynecological pathologies including endometriosis,[13–15] gestational diabetes,[16–18] infertility,[19–21] and polycystic ovary syndrome.[22–24]