Oxidative stress assays for disease risk stratification.

Despite the fact that oxidative stress is a significant aetiological factor in several degenerative diseases, its measurement is rarely a part of "routine analyses" performed in hospital clinical chemistry laboratories. This situation is likely to change, as interest in this topic is increasing rapidly. Here we review the pertinent literature, with an assessment of assays for oxidative stress, and categorize them under: (i) assays for monitoring lipid peroxidation, (ii) assays for measuring oxidized amino acids, (iii) assays for measuring oxidized nucleic acids, (iv) assays based on physicochemical and immunological properties of oxidized low-density lipoprotein, and (v) assays for measuring the antioxidant capacity of body fluids and tissues. Our overview should be of help when choosing appropriate laboratory assays for oxidative stress and for routine disease risk stratification.