Superoxide dismutase inhibits the superoxide‐driven Fenton reaction at two different levels

Superoxide dismutase (SOD) completely inhibits the damage caused by a ferric-EDTA chelate in the presence of a superoxide-generating system. In this reaction superoxide is enzymically dismuted to hydrogen peroxide. Since hydrogen peroxide and a ferric-EDTA chelate are themselves a hydroxyl radical-generating system, it follows that SOD must also protect against damage done by this reaction. The ability of SOD to inhibit damage to deoxyribose caused by hydrogen peroxide and a ferric-EDTA chelate is experimentally demonstrated in this paper.