Redox control of red blood cell biology: the red blood cell as a target and source of prooxidant species.

Red blood cells may exert both an antioxidant and a prooxidant activity. The first is exerted in physiologic conditions, whereas the second can be detected in several human pathologies. These opposite characteristics can depend on the environmental milieu as well as on intrinsic alterations. Both these aspects are summarized in this brief review that takes into account the possible implications of redox-associated alterations of red blood cells in determining their function and fate.