Extracellular superoxide dismutase deficiency and atherosclerosis in mice

Lipoprotein peroxidation in the arterial wall has been implicated in atherogenesis. The superoxide radical is formed in arteries and can induce such oxidation. Extracellular superoxide dismutase (EC-SOD) occurs in high concentration in the vascular wall interstitium, and in this study, we examined the importance of the enzyme in atherogenesis. On an apolipoprotein E-null background, the limited aortic lesions induced by a 1-month atherogenic diet were larger in EC-SOD wild-type mice than in EC-SOD-null mice, whereas there were no differences between the EC-SOD genotypes in the larger lesions seen after 3 months on the diet or after 8 months on normal chow. Despite smaller or equal lesions in the EC-SOD-null mice, their cholesterol levels were somewhat higher. Also, on a wild-type background, there were no effects produced by the absence or presence of EC-SOD on atherogenic diet-induced aortic root lesions. The urinary excretion of the lipid peroxidation biomarker 8-isoprostaglandin F-2 alpha was related to the rates of atherogenesis in the mice but was not influenced by the EC-SOD genotype. Likewise, the EC-SOD status had no effect on the staining for oxidized low density lipoprotein epitopes in aortic root sections. Our findings suggest that EC-SOD has little influence on atherogenesis in mice.