Modification of disease by preventing free radical formation: a new concept in pharmacological intervention.

There is considerable clinical and both in vivo and in vitro experimental evidence that toxic oxygen radicals contribute to the development of tissue injury associated with the inflammatory response. There is also strong evidence that cell injury caused by activation of phagocytic cells is iron dependent. Several of the clinical studies and in vivo and in vitro experimental models supporting these conclusions and suggesting mechanisms through which iron may participate in inflammation are discussed.