Therapeutic Usages of Oxygen Radical Scavengers in Human Diseases: Myths and Realities

Abstract

Some distinct advances in pharmacologic manipulation of oxygen radical scavengers have been made which could ultimately greatly enhance the use of these reagents as drugs, as well as some innovative techniques for drug delivery. Unfortunately, most of the therapeutic reports in the literature, almost all of which are based on usage of standard (native) SOD and/or catalase, are still anecdotal and/or uncontrolled. A review of the human disedse/treatment literature suggests that further tightening of the scientific design of such trials is stjll badly needed; hopefully better experimental design will be applied when products such as PEG conjugates or genetically engineered polymers are ready for testing.

Key Words:

• Superoxide dismutase
• catalase.