Oxidative Stress and Hypertension

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) oxidize, reduce, or combine with other molecules in both physiologic and pathophysiologic ways. This article examines the role of ROS in hypertension, especially in certain tissues, such as the brain, the kidney, and the vasculature. A major clinical challenge is that the routinely used antioxidants are ineffective in preventing or treating cardiovascular disease and hypertension. This is likely because these drugs are either ineffective or act in a nontargeted fashion, such that they remove not only injurious ROS but also those involved in normal cell signaling. Inflammatory cells such as T cells may contribute to hypertension, and further investigation of how this occurs may lead to new therapies.