Imagine a world where your body is like a car running on perfectly balanced fuel. However, over time, this balance gets disrupted by harmful molecules called prooxidants, causing oxidative stress. This imbalance is like a speeding ticket for the aging process, leading to age-related diseases. But here’s the twist: altering oxidative stress doesn’t always result in a longer lifespan for animals. It turns out that the role of oxidative stress in aging is more complicated than we once thought. The environment we live in, with its UV radiation, air pollution, and unbalanced diets, can also speed up the aging process. This comprehensive review dives deep into understanding how oxidative stress affects aging and how environmental factors contribute to this process. By unraveling the secrets behind aging, scientists are developing strategies to delay it and prevent age-related diseases. So buckle up and explore the fascinating world of aging and antioxidants!

IntroductionAging is a normal, inevitable, irreversible, and progressive process which is driven by internal and external factors. Oxidative stress, that is the imbalance between prooxidant and antioxidant molecules favoring the first, plays a key role in the pathophysiology of aging and comprises one of the molecular mechanisms underlying age-related diseases. However, the oxidative stress theory of aging has not been successfully proven in all animal models studying lifespan, meaning that altering oxidative stress/antioxidant defense systems did not always lead to a prolonged lifespan, as expected. On the other hand, animal models of age-related pathological phenotypes showed a well-correlated relationship with the levels of prooxidant molecules. Therefore, it seems that oxidative stress plays a more complicated role than the one once believed and this role might be affected by the environment of each organism. Environmental factors such as UV radiation, air pollution, and an unbalanced diet, have also been implicated in the pathophysiology of aging and seem to initiate this process more rapidly and even at younger ages.AimThe purpose of this review is to elucidate the role of oxidative stress in the physiology of aging and the effect of certain environmental factors in initiating and sustaining this process. Understanding the pathophysiology of aging will contribute to the development of strategies to postpone this phenomenon. In addition, recent studies investigating ways to alter the antioxidant defense mechanisms in order to prevent aging will be presented.ConclusionsCareful exposure to harmful environmental factors and the use of antioxidant supplements could potentially affect the biological processes driving aging and slow down the development of age-related diseases. Maybe a prolonged lifespan could not be achieved by this strategy alone, but a longer healthspan could also be a favorable target.

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