OBJECTIVE The redox pathophysiology of vascular repair is incompletely understood. We assessed the role of vascular superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity in oxidative/nitrative stress and caliber loss postinjury (PI). METHODS AND RESULTS Rabbits submitted to iliac artery balloon overdistension were followed for 14 days PI. Significant decrease in vascular SOD activity occurred at 7 and 14 days ...

BACKGROUND It has been suggested that oxidative stress is a crucial event in some forms of urticaria. AIM To evaluate the blood oxidant/antioxidant profile of patients suffering from urticaria induced by nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). METHODS We measured the activity of the antioxidant enzymes copper-zinc superoxide dismutase (Cu/ZnSOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), and ...

Reliable and standardized methods are necessary to determine the expression of antioxidative enzymes and their role in maintaining health. In addition, the variability of the enzyme activities within the general population caused by age, gender, and life-style factors must be described. This study describes methodological conditions that are suitable for analyzing copper-zinc superoxide dismuta...

Ionizing radiation promotes formation of reactive oxygen species, including the superoxide anion (O2-). To evaluate whether O2- or O2--mediated perturbations may contribute to the known atherogenic effects of radiation, we examined aortic lesion formation in irradiated C57BL/6 mice and evaluated the effects of CuZn-superoxide dismutase (CuZn-SOD) overexpression. Ten-week-old mice were exposed t...

An important issue in critical care medicine is the identification of ways to protect the lungs from oxygen toxicity and reduce systemic oxidative stress in conditions requiring mechanical ventilation and high levels of oxygen. One way to prevent oxygen toxicity is to augment antioxidant enzyme activity in the respiratory system. The current study investigated the ability of aerosolized extrace...

Gravity perception and gravitropic response are essential for plant development. In herbaceous species it is widely accepted that one of the primary events in gravity perception involves the displacement of amyloplasts within specialized cells. However the signaling cascade leading to stem reorientation is not fully known especially in woody species in which primary and secondary growth occur. ...

A study of the optimization of CuZn superoxide dismutase gene expression in E. coli L21/pET28-SOD was undertaken. The SOD gene was directionally cloned into expression vector pET28.The recombinant plasmid was transformed into E. coli BL21 and induced by IPTG to express SOD protein. The four effective factors, including the initial concentration of BL21/pET28-SOD, concentration of IPTG, incubati...

Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors ameliorate the progression of renal disease. In combination with vitamin D receptor activators, they provide additional benefits. In the present study, uremic (U) rats were treated as follows: U+vehicle (UC), U+enalapril (UE; 25 mg/l in drinking water), U+paricalcitol (UP; 0.8 μg/kg ip, 3 × wk), or U+enalapril+paricalcitol (UEP). Despite hypertensi...