Ursodeoxycholic acid and superoxide anion

AIM: To investigate the ability of ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) to scavenge superoxide anion (O-2(-) ). METHODS: We assessed the ability of UDCA to scavenge (O-2(-)) generated by xanthine-xanthine oxidase (X-XO) in a cell-free system and its effect on the rate of O-2(-)-induced ascorbic acid (AA) oxidation in hepatic post-mitochondrial supernatants. RESULTS: UDCA at a concentration as high as 1 mmol/L did not impair the ability of the X-XO system to generate O-2(-), but could scavenge O-2(-) at concentrations of 0.5 and 1 mmol/L, and decrease the rate of AA oxidation at a concentration of 100 mu mol/L. CONCLUSION: UDCA can scavenge O-2(,)- an action that may be beneficial to patients with primary biliary cirrhosis. (c) 2005 The WJG Press and Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.