NEW YORK, Oct 07 (Reuters Health) -- A new compound synthesized in the laboratory mimics superoxide dismutase (SOD), the body's natural antioxidant, thereby reducing tissue damage from diseases ranging from arthritis to stroke.
Many diseases -- including arthritis, heart disease, stroke, and perhaps cancer and AIDS -- cause damage by creating an overabundance of the harmful forms of oxygen called oxygen free radicals. Natural antioxidants -- whose job is to neutralize the free radicals -- become overwhelmed, and tissue injury ensues.
For the first time, scientists have synthesized an imitation SOD called M40403 that overcomes many of the limitations of using natural enzymes to control these free radicals, according to Daniela Salvemini from MetaPhore Pharmaceuticals in St. Louis, Missouri and colleagues. Their report is published in the October 8th issue of the journal Science.
M40403, based on the metal manganese, works to transform oxygen free radicals at speeds approaching that of the natural SOD enzyme made by the body, the results indicate.
When tested in injured rats, M40403 reduced swelling by 50% or more and cut the influx of inflammatory cells (blood cells associated with inflammation) into the affected area, the authors note.
Similarly, in a rat model of the damage seen when blood flow is restored to the brain after a stroke or to the heart after a heart attack (so-called reperfusion injury), M40403 reduced the production of harmful chemicals and limited the usual infiltration of tissues by inflammatory cells, the researchers report. M40403 also prevented the drop in blood pressure usually seen after reperfusion and increased the 4-hour survival rate from 0% to 90%.
Based on their results, the investigators conclude that "M40403 is a stable SOD mimic with therapeutic activity in models of inflammation and ischemia (impaired blood supply)."
The compound, nicknamed a 'synzyme,' "may have potential for the treatment of diseases ranging from acute and chronic inflammation to (heart) disease and stroke," Salvemini and colleagues suggest.
