Antioxidant supplements and oxidative stress : the debate extends to the Middle East

• Published in: Sultan Qaboos University medical journal 2019-08, Vol.19 (3), p.177-180
• Main Authors: Salih, Jumanah, Edeas, Marvin, Goor, Harry Van
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aging; Antioxidants; Antioxidants - therapeutic use; Conferences; Dietary Supplements; Disease; Free radicals; Gastric cancer; Humans; Meetings; Melanoma; Metabolism; Metastasis; Microbiota; Natural resources; Nutrition research; Oxidative stress; Oxidative Stress - drug effects; Researchers; Womens health; الإجهاد التأكسدي; المكملات الغذائية; مضادات الأكسدة
• ISSN: 2075-051X; 2075-0528
• DOI: 10.18295/squmj.2019.19.03.001

[...]the ISANH recently established its branch in the Middle East, named the International Society of Antioxidants in Nutrition and Health-Middle East (ISANH-ME), to find answers, share experiences and address matters of regional interest.7 ISANH-ME has recently conducted several annual regional meetings in parallel with the European-based version. New findings highlighting that the redox status was a significant disease determinant and, in some cases, outperformed other markers of disease severity supporting previous findings.9,10 Oxidative stress was linked to hormonal variations in women and was implicated in polycystic ovary syndrome, which is common among Omani women.11,12 Two independent studies conducted by researchers in Oman highlighted that homocysteine, a pro-oxidant marker, was a predictive determinant of oxidative stress among Omani women, which could be improved by antioxidant supplementation.10 The Middle East is rich in natural resources; antioxidants extracted from natural products and their therapeutic potential, was a predominant aspect of several presentations at this Congress.8 Oman has an abundance of original natural resources, particularly with its extended coastal line and diverse marine and terrestrial ecosystems. [...]oxidants are necessary for several biological processes and mild oxidative stress has regulatory and protective roles against certain diseases especially cancer cell proliferation.14,15 Hence antioxidant supplements, in spite of their renowned benefits, may be viewed as a double-edged sword as they could hinder natural oxidant defences targeting cancer cell proliferation.15 This long-debated issue was strongly addressed during most recent ISANH-ME Congress. The “key note” lecture, presented by Professor Martin Bergö, a leading researcher in the field from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, and a member of the Nobel Prize Assembly, showed new evidence suggesting that long-term supplementation with the antioxidants N-acetylcysteine and vitamin E hampered protective natural oxidant defence mechanisms leading to enhanced lung cancer metastasis.8 These findings supported previous findings that showed similar results involving melanoma metastasis.14,16 Further evidence was presented by researchers from Lebanon and Brunei showing that the protective anticancer effects of thymoquinone, an active ingredient of black seeds, was attributed to its pro-oxidant effects by inducing apoptosis of cancerous cells via the generation