Oxidative stress and diabetes

Abstract

Increase in oxidative stress (OS) has been found to be linked with various disease conditions, including diabetes and post- diabetic complications. If there is any imbalance between the reactive oxygen species (ROS) and antioxidant species inside cells, ROS damage cellular functions directly or indirectly. Besides oxidizing the major biomolecules inside the cells, they also alter the cell signaling mechanism, cell permeability, basic genetic mechanism, etc. In case of diabetes, different types of stresses (emotional, physical, chemical, or infectious) can lead to damage to the pancreatic cells and may result in decreased production/secretion (by β-cells) or utilization (by adipocytes, skeletal muscles, hepatocytes, etc.) of insulin and so, can result into hyperglycemic conditions. For the cells, which are not insulin dependent for their glucose uptake and metabolism (retinal cells, nephrons, nerve cells, etc.), their intracellular glucose concentration rises, and as a result, an increase in oxidative stress occurs by various mechanisms. This further triggers the onset of post-diabetic complications. This chapter describes the causes and mechanisms for the onset of diabetes and post-diabetic complications.