Dear Colleagues,

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading cause of death worldwide. CVDs are linked to a number of risk factors, including smoking, high cholesterol, and high blood glucose levels. CVDs include hypertension, stroke, heart failure, and myocardial infarction, among others. The endothelium plays a major role in cardiovascular physiology. At the cellular level, endothelial dysfunction is a critical factor in the development of CVDs. Endothelial dysfunction also appears to be involved in the early stages of CVDs, including age-related CVDs. Aging-related changes to the heart and blood vessels may increase a person's risk of developing CVDs. Furthermore, aging can lead to CVDs, and as global life expectancy rises so will the prevalence of CVDs. Surprisingly, oxidative stress has been linked to endothelial dysfunction, aging-related endothelial dysfunction, and various CVDs.

ROS (reactive oxygen species) are a pleiotropic class of compounds with a wide range of oxidized properties that affect many genes and proteins at the physiological level. This signaling can be disrupted, resulting in cellular dysfunction and illness. Although oxidative stress and endothelial dysfunction are typically found in hypertensive individuals, new evidence suggests that they may play a causal role in the molecular mechanisms that contribute to hypertension. Substances that modulate redox signaling, reduce or attenuate oxidative stress, and target antioxidant genes, enzymes, and transcription factors are therefore essential for preventing or treating CVDs in both young and older people. Furthermore, recent studies demonstrate that endothelial dysfunction and injury in the vascular wall can be repaired by endothelial progenitor cells.

As a result of the above, this Special Issue welcomes original research papers or review articles focusing on the primary mechanisms underlying oxidative stress and how it leads to endothelial dysfunction and CVDs, as well as the beneficial role that natural products may play in endothelial dysfunction-related CVDs.

Prof. Dr. Isac Almeida de Medeiros
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Antioxidants is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• endothelial dysfunction
• endothelial progenitor cells
• cardiovascular diseases
• aging
• oxidative stress
• redox signaling
• dna damage
• hypertension
• antioxidant system
• natural products