Drug-Induced Oxidative Stress and Cellular Toxicity

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are a derivative of usual metabolic activities and have proven to play a crucial role in different cell signaling pathways, crucial for cell survival and homeostasis. There are defined cellular mechanisms that help in regulating the ROS levels, and different antioxidant enzymes such as catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) help in neutralizing these ROS and thus help in the regulation of their levels. However, under certain conditions such as excessive ROS production, which is beyond the neutralizing capacity of the cells, or deficient antioxidant enzymes, the accumulation of ROS takes place which consequently leads to oxidative stress (OS). There are various external factors known to trigger excessive ROS production and thus OS. Surprisingly, a large number of drugs which on the one hand help in curbing the disease pathogenesis are known to be responsible for OS and associated cytotoxicity in various diseases and thus exhibit their side effects. In this chapter, we review the various types of cellular stress generated due to different reactive ions such as ROS as well as RNS (reactive nitrogen species) and their effect on various cellular components. The chapter further includes the different drugs and various studies supporting their ROS/RNS generating effects. In the end, the significance of co-supplementations of various antioxidants along with these drugs has also been discussed in brief.