Comparison of the Effect of Adenoviral Delivery of Three Superoxide Dismutase Genes Against Hepatic Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury

Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of superoxide dismutase (SOD) overexpression in an acute model of hepatic oxidative stress. Oxidative stress was established using a warm ischemia-reperfusion model, where nearly 70% of the liver was made hypoxic by clamping the hepatic artery and a branch of the portal vein for 1 hr followed by restoration of blood flow. Animals were infected i.v. with 1 × 109 plaque-forming units (PFU) of adenovirus containing the transgene for cytosolic Cu/Zn-SOD (Ad.SOD1), mitochondrial Mn-SOD (Ad.SOD2), extracellular Cu/Zn-SOD (Ad.SOD3), or the bacterial reporter gene for β-galactosidase (Ad.lacZ) 3 days prior to experiments. Ad.SOD1 and Ad.SOD2 caused a three-fold increase in SOD expression and activity in liver compared to Ad.lacZ-treated control animals. Intravenous administration of Ad.SOD3 increased SOD activity slightly in serum but not in liver. Increases in serum transaminases and pathology due to ischemia-reperfusion were blunted by Ad.SOD1 and Ad.SOD2; however, extracellular SOD had no significant effect. Moreover, lipid-derived free radical adducts (aN = 15.65 G and aHβ = 2.78 G) were increased by ischemia-reperfusion. This effect was blunted by about 60% in Ad.SOD1- and Ad.SOD2-infected animals, but was unaffected by Ad.SOD3. However, when high doses of Ad.SOD3 (3 × 1010 PFU) were administered. serum SOD activity was elevated three-fold and was protective against hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury under these conditions. These data demonstrate that adenoviral delivery of superoxide dismutase can effectively reduce hepatic oxidative stress.