Superoxide Dismutase Activity of Peripheral Blood Lymphocytes in Inhabitants of a Mountain Village

Abstract

Superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities of peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) in inhabitants of a mountain village were measured in order to determine a range of the SOD activity. The validity of SOD assay was based on the ability of SOD to inhibit the interception of •O₂^- generated enzymatically through the xanthine-xanthine oxidase system with nitro blue tetrazolium (NBT). The results were as follows: 1) The distribution of levels in logalistic converted SOD of PBL in 142 subjects showed a normal distribution. The geometric means of total, male, and female were respectively 33.1, 3 and 33.9 units/mg protein. No significant difference between the SOD activities of male and female was found. 2) In the subjects of the village aged 20-82, the SOD activities of PBL did not demonstrate any significant defferences in age. 3) The SOD activities of the subjects with atopy tended to be higher than those with non-atopy. However, there were not significant influences of smoking and drinking on the SOD activities.