Salicylic acid and phenylalanine as probes to detect hydroxyl radicals

Abstract It is now widely accepted that reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS) (including free radicals) are involved in the pathogenesis of several inflammatory and degenerative disease states (for a recent review see ref. 1). In spite of their existence these species have not as yet been measured in clinical diagnosis. This is partly due to the lack of agreed formats and standardized methodology for measuring oxidative stress and/or levels of free radicals in humans.