Free radical spin traps as adjuncts for the prevention and treatment of disease

Free radical spin traps exhibit properties consistent with a role in the prevention or amelioration of diseases mediated by the formation of free radical species in excess of optimum constitutive requirements. At first view, it may be surprising that they have not found a place in clinical medicine. Some studies of diseases in which free radicals and oxidative stress are aberrantly over- or underabundant and which might be ameliorated by inhibiting or augmenting their formation have been reported. A number of pathophysiologic categories in which such agents have been or might be employed are briefly summarized.