Comparison of the protective effects by human and bovine superoxide dismutase against ischemia- and reperfusion-induced impairment of kidney function in anesthetized rats.

In a rat model of ischemia- and reperfusion-induced kidney damage, the protective effects of human superoxide dismutase produced by genetic technology (hum-SOD) were compared to those of bovine superoxide dismutase (bov-SOD). The intravenous infusion of hum-SOD and bov-SOD, started concomitantly with the kidney reperfusion after a 60-min (or 30-min) period of ischemia, significantly improved the renal function (inulin and p-amino-hippuric acid clearance rates) as compared to the vehicle-treated control group. In contrast, inactive apoenzyme of superoxide dismutase (Apo-SOD) did not improve the impaired renal function after the kidney reperfusion. Therefore, the kidney protection by hum-SOD and bov-SOD may reasonably be ascribed to their specific enzymatic function--scavenging of oxygen radicals. In this respect, hum-SOD proved to be as effective as bov-SOD. To our knowledge this is the first report on a direct pharmacologic comparison of superoxide dismutases from natural and recombinant origin.