Sweet and sour--oxidative and carbonyl stress in neurological disorders

The nervous system is a unique network of different cell types and comprises a variety of proteins, lipids, and carbohydrates that have an important interplay with all major organs in the body. Homeostatic regulation of nervous tissue turnover must be carefully controlled, taking into account interactions of the nervous, endocrine, and immune systems. Clinical conditions affecting the nervous system range from mild cognitive perturbations such as headache, to life-threatening acute courses such as meningitis and glioblastoma, and to chronic neurodegenerative diseases such as multiple sclerosis. One unifying feature in normal developmental or homeostatic functions and clinical dysfunctions within the nervous system is redox regulation, with an imbalance in oxidative/carbonyl stress versus antioxidants being characteristic of pathological conditions. In this review we consider the state of current knowledge regarding structural, genetic, proteomic, histopathological, clinical, and therapeutic perspectives of oxidative and carbonyl stress within the nervous system.