Reactive oxygen species in health and disease

The traditional view of reactive oxygen species (ROS) as uniform toxicants has been superseded by the recognition of a fundamental radical/non-radical dichotomy. As radical and non-radical ROS differ in spatial and kinetic behaviors that dictate cellular impacts, understanding this dichotomy is essential for the design of ROS-targeting therapies. However, the roles of specific ROS types under physiological and pathological conditions remain inadequately defined, hindering precise clinical transl