Natural Plant Antioxidants and Cardiovascular Disease

Abstract

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), cardiovascular disorders are one of the main causes of death worldwide. The prognosis and the mortality rate are directly related to the vascular damage favoring the progression toward heart failure. One pathogenic mechanism and common nexus of chronic pathologies and chronic inflammation is oxidative stress characterized by a biochemical imbalance between the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the endogenous antioxidant defense system. In metabolic process, oxygen undergoes a series of reduction steps leading to the production of free radicals represented by Superoxide (O·-2), Oxygen radical (O· · 2), Hydroxyl (OH·), Alkoxyradical (RO·), and Peroxyl radical (ROO·).