Copper/zinc and manganese superoxide dismutase immunoreactivity in hepatic iron overload diseases.

Iron overload to the liver induces hepatic injury, eventually ending up with liver fibrosis or cirrhosis. Pathogenic mechanisms involved in liver damage are only partially known, but there is evidence for an important role of iron-induced reactive oxygen species. We have, therefore, analyzed the immunohistochemical reactivity for two major free radical scavengers, copper/zinc and manganese superoxide dismutase (Cu/Zn- and Mn-SOD's) in three situations of hepatic iron overload, and compared enzyme patterns with grades of iron deposition, grades of fibrosis, and levels of microphotometrically measured type IV collagen immunoreactivity. Cu/Zn- and Mn-SOD reactivity was detectable in hepatocytes with a heavy and a low iron burden, but Cu/Zn-SOD staining was more intense than that of Mn-SOD in the three groups analysed. There was trend for microphotometrically measured type IV collagen levels to increase with the amount of iron, and increased collagen IV was correlated with higher grades of Cu/Zn-SOD, but not of Mn-SOD, reactivity. The findings suggest that the two SOD's may be differentially expressed in states of hepatic iron overload, and that low expression of the inducible radical scavenger, Mn-SOD, may play a role in chronic iron toxicity.