Manganese-based superoxide dismutase mimetics inhibit neutrophil infiltration in vivo.

In a previous study (Hardy et al. (1994) J. Biol. Chem. 269, 18535-18540), we observed that the manganese-based superoxide dismutase mimetic Mn(II)-dichloro(1,4,7,10,13-pentaazacyclopentadecane) (MnPAM) inhibited neutrophil-mediated cell injury in vitro. We have extended these studies with the low molecular weight superoxide dismutase mimic to evaluate the role of superoxide in neutrophil-mediated tissue injury in vivo. In a dose-dependent manner, MnPAM inhibited colonic tissue injury and neutrophil accumulation into the colonic tissue induced by the intracolonic instillation of dilute aqueous acetic acid in mice. Tissue injury was assessed by visual and histological analysis. Neutrophil infiltration was determined by tissue myeloperoxidase activity and confirmed by histological analysis. Two novel Mn(II) dichloro complexes of the carbon-substituted macrocycles 2-methyl-1,4,7,10,13-pentaazacyclopentadecane (MnMAM) and 2-(2-methylpropyl)-1,4,7,10,13-pentaazacyclopentadecane (MnBAM) effectively catalyzed the dismutation of superoxide with catalytic rate constants (kcat) of 3. 31 x 10(7) M-1 s-1 and 1.91 x 10(7) M-1 s-1, respectively, as determined by stopped-flow kinetic analysis at pH 8.1 and 21 degrees C. The superoxide dismutase mimetics MnMAM and MnBAM also attenuated dilute aqueous acetic acid-induced tissue injury and neutrophil infiltration into colonic tissue; however, two Mn(II) complexes that had little or no detectable SOD activity (kcat