Metal-based antioxidants--potential therapeutic candidates for prevention the oxidative stress-related carcinogenesis: mini-review.

The oxidative stress that is associated with the abnormal level of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is considered to be involved in the carcinogenesis process. The antioxidative defense system in the living organism regulates the toxic impact of ROS and there is strong evidence that the antioxidants prevent carcinogenesis. This review will focus on a novel approach to design synthetic metal-based antioxidants and to study their in vitro, ex vivo and in vivo activities in the cellular oxidation processes that might be involved in promotion of carcinogenesis. The antioxidants are divided into several groups depending on the nature of the ligands used: 2,6-dialkylphenols, flavonoids, polyphenols, peptides, purines, pyridines and their derivatives. Some currently achieved results in testing metal complexes as antioxidants show that they could potentially facilitate the scavenging of excess ROS, and thus restore redox balance in the damaged cells and organs. Therefore there is a strong need of the design of novel potential therapeutic candidates for prevention the oxidative stress-related carcinogenesis based on metal complexes.