There is a growing body of evidence demonstrating that products of oxidative stress,
namely carbonyl adducts, play a major role in chronic inflammation as well as age-related
diseases. Their involvement crosses a broad spectrum of medical conditions encompassing
airway diseases, such as asthma and COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) [1],
neurodegenerative disorders like alzheimers [2], the cardiovascular disease atherosclerosis [3],
and the arthritic diseases rheumatoid arthritis [4] and osteoarthritis [5]. Several good reviews
exist highlighting the importance of carbonyl adducts in disease [6-8]. Not only do carbonyl
adducts act as simple markers of tissue damage by oxidative stress, but they are able to
participate in disease pathogenesis. This is accomplished through post-translational
modification of protein, be it intra- or extra-cellular, the net effect being to alter cell function
with the eventual tissue damage that follows [9-12].