Extracellular superoxide dismutase attenuates lipopolysaccharide-induced neutrophilic inflammation

Extracellular superoxide dismutase (EC-SOD) is an abundant antioxidant in the lung and vascular walls. Previous studies have shown that EC-SOD attenuates lung injury in a diverse variety of lung injury models. In this study, we examined the role of EC-SOD in mediating lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced lung inflammation. We found that LPS-induced neutrophilic lung inflammation was exaggerated in EC-SOD-deficient mice and diminished in mice that overexpressed EC-SOD specifically in the lung. Similar patterns were seen for bronchoalveolar lavage cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor-alpha, keratinocyte-derived chemokines, and macrophage inflammatory protein-2 as well as expression of lung intercellular adhesion molecule-1, vascular cell adhesion molecule-1, endothelial cell selectin, and platelet selectin. In a macrophage cell line, EC-SOD inhibited LPS-induced macrophage cytokine release, but did not alter expression of intercellular adhesion molecules in endothelial cells. These results suggest that EC-SOD plays an important role in attenuating the inflammatory response in the lung most likely by decreasing release of proinflammatory cytokines from phagocytes.