Reactive oxygen species: rapid fire in inflammation

Abstract

Everyone has encountered it at some point: inflammation. That horrible feeling when you've hurt yourself and the skin and tissue around the injury swells, goes red, feels hot and painful. It is even worse if it gets infected, then you really know about it! You can feel sick, weak and feverish as your body tries to fight off the infection and heal itself. Inflammation is really important for keeping us healthy. Sometimes, however, the body's inflammatory response can be a bit overzealous, not shutting down when it's supposed to, which can lead to various problems and even a state of disease. To fully understand and be able to effectively treat these diseases, we need a better understanding of how and why this chronic inflammation occurs. Could a crucial element in our lives, oxygen, be key to furthering our understanding?