Prevention of ongoing lipid peroxidation by wound excision and superoxide dismutase treatment in the burned rat.

To determine if wound excision and superoxide dismutase (SOD) treatment prevent ongoing lipid peroxidation after burn injury, the plasma, kidney, and lung lipid peroxide (LPO) levels in 25% total body surface area (TBSA) burned rats was studied. The animals were given intraperitoneal bovine copper-, zinc-SOD (Cu/Zn-SOD) (50,000 U/kg dissolved in saline) or saline immediately after burns and were operated by wound debridement and allograft 2 hours after the burn. We measured LPO levels of 6-hour postburn plasma and tissues by the thiobarbituric acid (TBA) method, and measured the manganese SOD (Mn-SOD) by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Wound excision alone prevented the increase of plasma LPO levels but could not prevent the increase in tissues. The combination of wound excision and Cu/Zn-SOD treatment markedly inhibited the increase in both plasma and tissue LPO levels after the burn, but did not prevent the increase in Mn-SOD. Wound excision in conjunction with SOD-treatment might be therapeutic in the management of severe burns.