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Previous Volume 350:834-835 February 19, 2004 Number 8 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

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Molecular oxygen (O₂) is abundant in the atmosphere and is essential for most forms of life. A study by Wentworth and colleagues has now implicated one of its derivatives in the highly prevalent vascular disorder atherosclerosis.¹

Molecular oxygen engages in a variety of metabolic redox reactions that yield a range of products collectively termed "reactive oxygen species." The addition of one electron converts molecular oxygen to superoxide anion (O₂^–•), whereas the addition of two electrons yields hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂). Hydrogen peroxide, in turn, can react with ferrous iron (Fe²⁺) to produce the highly reactive hydroxyl . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Source Information

From Boston University School of Medicine, Boston.

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