Reactive oxygen and nitrogen species in skeletal muscle: acute and long-term effects

It is a common belief that oxidative stress imposes a considerable threat to our health and that antioxidants promote health. Along these lines, foodstuffs are considered healthy if they contain antioxidants and advertisements for expensive supplements to increase our defence against oxidants are commonplace. Unfortunately, the term oxidative stress is poorly defined and it is uncertain whether relatively minor changes in the dietary intake of antioxidants are important in relation to the internal systems that control the redox balance. Although it is clear that excessive amounts of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (ROS/RNS) can induce pathological processes, numerous recent studies have also shown important effects of ROS/RNS in integral physiological signalling events. The complex effects of ROS/RNS in skeletal muscles were addresses in The Journal of Physiology Symposium ‘Reactive oxygen & nitrogen species in skeletal muscle – acute and long-term effects’, which was held in September 2010 in association with the XXXIX European Muscle Conference in Abano Terme, Italy. The goal of this well-attended symposium was to review, and thereby increase our understanding of, how ROS/RNS affect skeletal muscle acutely and in the long term.