J. Biosci., Vol. 13, Number 3, September 1988, pp. 305315. Printed in India.

Assay of superoxide dismutase activity in animal tissues

ANURADHA NANDI and I. B. CHATTERJEE*
Department of Biochemistry, University College of Science, 35, Ballygunge Circular Road, Calcutta 700 019, India MS received 26 November 1987; revised 16 May 1988 Abstract. Convenient assays for superoxide dismutase have necessarily been of the indirect type. It was observed that among the different methods used for the assay of superoxide dismutase in rat liver homogenate, namely the xanthinexanthine oxidase ferricytochrome c, xanthine-xanthine oxidase nitroblue tetrazolium, and pyrogallol autoxidation methods, a modified pyrogallol autoxidation method appeared to be simple, rapid and reproducible. The xanthine-xanthine oxidase ferricytochrome c method was applicable only to dialysed crude tissue homogenates. The xanthine-xanthine oxidase nitroblue tetrazolium method, either with sodium carbonate solution, pH 102, or potassium phosphate buffer, pH 78, was not applicable to rat liver homogenate even after extensive dialysis. Using the modified pyrogallol autoxidation method, data have been obtained for superoxide dismutase activity in different tissues of rat. The effect of age, including neonatal and postnatal development on the activity, as well as activity in normal and cancerous human tissues were also studied. The pyrogallol method has also been used for the assay of iron-containing superoxide dismutase in Escherichia coli and for the identification of superoxide dismutase on polyacrylamide gels after electrophoresis. Keywords. Superoxide dismutase; animal tissues; erythrocyte; human cancer tissues.

Introduction Toxicity by oxygen radicals has been suggested as a major cause of cancer, aging, heart disease and cellular injury in hepatic and extrahepatic organs (Hartman, 1981; Troll and Weisner, 1985; Gram et al., 1986). There is compelling evidence that superoxide dismutases (SOD, EC 1511) are essential for biological defence against the superoxide anion (Fridovich, 1983). A variety of methods have been developed to assay SOD (Flohe and tting, 1984), but most of these are based on pure SOD samples. Practically, many of these methods are not suitable for the assay of SOD in animal tissues, which often contain materials that interfere with SOD assay. As a result, authentic data on SOD activities in different animal tissues are not available. Further, published reports regarding the effect of aging on tissue SOD activities are controversial (Leibovitz and Siegel, 1980; Steinhagen-Thiessen et al., 1986). In microorganisms, SOD activity increased markedly with elevation of oxygen concentration (Fridovich, 1974). It would, therefore, be interesting to determine SOD activity in animal tissue at birth and during postnatal development, i.e., when the animals are exposed to atmospheric oxygen. Since there is evidence that oxygen radicals play a role in tumour promotion (Troll and Weisner, 1985), it would also be interesting to determine the SOD status in human cancer. In this communication we have given
*To whom all correspondence should be addressed.

. Abbreviations used: SOD, Superoxide dismutase; O 2 , superoxide; KCN, potassium cyanide; NBT, nitroblue tetrazolium; GSH, glutathione; DTPA, diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid; SDS, sodium dodecyl sulphate; Hb, haemoglobin.

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an appraisal of different methods available for assay of SOD activities in animal tissues and observe that the pyrogallol autoxidation method (Marklund and Marklund, 1974) is suitable only after minor but significant modification. Using this method, data have been obtained on SOD activities in different tissues of rats, the effect of age on SOD activities in rat tissues, and SOD activities in normal and cancerous human tissues. Convenient assays for SOD have necessarily been of the indirect type (Flohe and tting, 1984; Beyer and Fridovich, 1987). Among these, the xanthine-xanthine oxidase ferricytochrome c (X/XOD/Cyt c3+) method described by McCord and Fridovich (1969) is the first and the most widely used method. However, for the assay of SOD in animal tissues, the X/XOD/Cyt c3+ method should be used with caution because (i) ascorbic acid present in animal tissues (approximately 103 M) is a scavenger of superoxide O 2. Nishikimi, 1975; Nandi and Chatterjee, 1987) and also reduces cytochrome c chemically and interferes with the SOD assay, and (ii) cytochrome c oxidase activity present in the tissues may be mistaken for SOD activity, since reoxidation of reduced cytochrome c mimics an inhibition of cytochrome c reduction. Also, uric acid, the product of the action of xanthine oxidase on xanthine, is a scavenger of oxygen free radicals (Ames et al., 1981). Ascorbic acid may be removed by extensive dialysis. However, when the number of samples is large or when the sample size is small (as in human tissues), dialysis is not suitable for routine purposes. Interference of cytochrome c oxidase may be eliminated by using 10 potassium cyanide (KCN) in the assay mixture. But in practice, 10 M KCN often does not fully inhibit cytochrome oxidase in crude tissue homogenates (Crapo et al., 1978). Moreover, Rigo et al. (1975) have shown that cyanide, even at a concentration of 177 106 M, may affect SOD. Higher concentrations of KCN significantly inhibit Cu, Zn-SOD. Azzi et al. (1975) recommended the use of acetylated ferricytochrome c in place of ferricytochrome c, because acetylated ferricytochrome c is not recognized as a substrate by cytochrome c oxidase. But this is not suitable for routine purposes. Preparation of acetylated ferricytochrome c is time-consuming, and the yield and stability of the acetylated product are low. Further, the rate of change of absorbance using acetylated ferricytochrome c is markedly low: we observed that the change of absorbance of 002 per min at 550 nm using X/XOD/Cyt c3+ became 0007 when ferricytochrome c was replaced by acetylated ferricytochrome c. Besides ferricytochrome c, nitroblue tetrazolium (NBT) is also used as a detector of O2. generated by the X/XOD system (Beauchamp and Fridovich, 1971). However, the X/XOD/NBT assay is better suited for monitoring SOD in Polyacrylamide gels (Beauchamp and Fridovich, 1971). We have observed that the spectrophotometric assay of SOD using the X/XOD/NBT method is not applicable to crude tissue homogenates. As will be seen in this paper, NBT is chemically reduced by low concentrations of ascorbic acid present in tissue homogenates. This is particularly important for (i) the adrenal gland where ascorbic acid concentration is comparatively high, and (ii) lung and brain tissues where SOD activities are comparatively low and relatively high amounts of tissue homogenates are to be used in the assay mixture. Moreover, data presented in this communication indicate that even extensively dialysed tissue homogenate produces non-specific interference in the X/XOD/NBT assay of SOD. Misra and Fridovich (1972) reported an assay for SOD based on the ability of SOD to inhibit the autoxidation of epinephrine at alkaline pH. But again, the use of epinephrine has a disadvantage because traces of

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ascorbic acid and glutathione (GSH) inhibit the autoxidation of epinephrine. We have observed that in a system containing 3 l04 M epinephrine and 005 sodium carbonate solution, pH 102, 1 105 ascorbic acid or 5 105 GSH completely inhibits the autoxidation of epinephrine. We have observed that reliable and reproducible results are obtained in the assay of SOD in crude tissue homogenates by the pyrogallol autoxidation method of Marklund and Marklund (1974) only after making some minor but significant modifications such as the use of pH 85 instead of pH 82 in the assay mixture and allowance of a lag period of one and a half min to allow the steady state of oxidation of pyrogallol to be attained before taking the initial reading. The method is simple and is not affected by the concentrations of ascorbic acid and glutathione present in tissue homogenates. The pyrogallol autoxidation method can also be used for the assay of Fe-SOD in Escherichia coli. We have further observed that the pyrogallol method can be used to detect SOD on Polyacrylamide gels following electrophoresis. Materials and methods Xanthine and xanthine oxidase (grade I), cytochrome c, SOD, NBT, Triton X-100 and Tris were purchased from Sigma Chemical Co., St Louis, Missouri, USA. Catalase was obtained from CSIR Centre for Biochemicals, New Delhi, and was found to be free from SOD contamination. Ascorbic acid was a product of Sarabhai M. Chemicals, Bombay. Sodium carbonate, A.R., and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) were obtained from Glaxo Laboratories, Bombay. Pyrogallol, a product of E. Merck, Germany, was purified by sublimation. Cacodylic acid was purchased from Fisher Scientific Company, Fair Lawn, New Jersey, USA; di-ethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA), A.R., from Koch-Light Laboratories Ltd, England; KCN from Burgoyne Urbidges, India, and sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) from British Drug House, Bombay. For SOD assay, the tissue homogenate (1:9 for lung and adrenal gland, w/v, and 1:4 for other tissues) was prepared in ice-cold 025 sucrose solution containing 05% Triton X-100. The crude homogenate was centrifuged at 34,880 g for 30 min and the supernatant was used. Sucrose (025 M) and Triton X-100 (05%) did not interfere with the SOD assay mentioned in the text. The amount of tissue homogenate needed for SOD assay by the pyrogallol method was 25 l in the case of liver, 510 l for kidney, and 2540 l for lung. Higher amounts of tissue homogenates were needed for assays in tissue from newly born or developing rats. When SOD was assayed by the X/XOD/Cyt c3+ and X/XOD/NBT methods, the 34,880 g supernatant was dialysed against 20 volumes of 10 mM potassium phosphate buffer, pH 72, for 8 h with 8 changes of buffer at 4C. SOD assay in erythrocytes was done in Tsuchihasi extract of erythrocyte haemolysate (Crapo et al., 1978). The red cells were haemolysed with 3 volumes of cold glass-distilled water. The amount of haemoglobin (Hb) present in the erythrocyte haemolysate was estimated by Drabkins method (Richterich, 1969). Ninety-five to 98% of pure SOD added to erythrocyte haemolysate could be recovered in the Tsuchihasi extract described above. The E. coli (strain B) extract was prepared by sonication of 1 g E. coli suspended in 9 volumes of 50 mM potassium phosphate buffer, pH 78. The homogenate was

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centrifuged at 34,880 g for 30 min in the cold and the supernatant was assayed for SOD activity. Assay of SOD by X/XOD/Cyt c3+ method was carried out according to McCord and Fridovich (1969) and Crapo et al. (1978). SOD assay by X/XOD/NBT method was carried out following the method of Beauchamp and Fridovich (1971) as well as that of Oberly and Spitz (1984). SOD assay by the pyrogallol autoxidation method was carried out following the procedure of Marklund and Marklund (1974). The assay system contained 1 mM DTPA, 40 g catalase, 50 mM air-equilibrated Tris cacodylate buffer, pH 85 and tissue homogenate or Tsuchihasi extract of erythrocyte in a final volume of 2 ml. The reaction was initiated by the addition of 100 l of freshly prepared 26 mM pyrogallol solution in 10 mM HCl to attain a final concentration of pyrogallol of 013 mM in the assay mixture. The assay mixture was transferred to a 15 ml cuvette and the rate of increase in the absorbance at 420 nm was recorded for 2 min from 1 min 30 s to 3 min 30 s in a Hitachi Model 20020 double beam spectrophotometer with recorder. The lag of 1 min 30 s was allowed for steady state of autoxidation of pyrogallol to be attained. The allowance of this lag period was very important for reproducibility of results. The concentration of pyrogallol was so adjusted that the rate of change of absorbance per min was approximately 00200023. The increase in the absorbance at 420 nm after addition of pyrogallol was inhibited by the presence of SOD. One unit of SOD is described as the amount of enzyme required to cause 50% inhibition of pyrogallol autoxidation per 3 ml of assay mixture. Results have been expressed in units per g tissue or per mg protein for tissue homogenate and units per g Hb for erythrocyte haemolysate. All the experiments were carried out in an air-conditioned room at 25C. Protein was estimated according to the method of Lowry et al. (1951). To determine the amounts of Cu, Zn-SOD and Mn-SOD in tissues, 2 mM KCN solution was added to the assay mixture to inhibit Cu, Zn-SOD; Mn-SOD remains unaffected (Fridovich, 1974). However, in lung tissue SDS was used instead of KCN, because KCN gave an erroneously high value for Mn-SOD when the tissue was contaminated with Hb. We observed that in the presence of 2 mM KCN, 25 g or more Hb, when added to the 2 ml assay mixture, mimicked about one unit of Mn-SOD in the pyrogallol method. For the determination of Mn-SOD in lung tissues, the homogenate was pre-incubated with 2% SDS at 37C for 30 min before addition to the assay mixture. SDS inhibits Mn-SOD; Cu, Zn-SOD remains unaffected (Geller and Winge, 1984). SDS (2%) did not interfere with the autoxidation of pyrogallol. The decrease in the total activity after addition of SDS represents Mn-SOD. The Mn-SOD and Cu, Zn-SOD were thus calculated as the difference between the total SOD activity and the activity due to Cu, Zn-SOD and Mn-SOD, respectively. It was found that 2 mM KCN inhibited the autoxidation of pyrogallol by about 15%. So, for the determination of Mn-SOD in tissues other than lung, one control experiment was carried but by recording the increase of absorbance of autoxidation of pyrogallol at 420 nm in the presence of 2 mM KCN, The 50% inhibition after addition of tissue homogenate was calculated on this basis. The pyrogallol method was also used for the assay of Fe-SOD in E. coli extract by adding 05 mM H2O2 to the assay mixture. H2O2 inactivated Fe-SOD, but not Mn-SOD (Bridges and Salin, 1981). The excess of H2O2 was decomposed by addition of excess catalase. To the assay mixture containing 1 mM DTPA and 50 mM Triscacodylic acid buffer, pH 85, 10 l . coli extract and 100 l of 10 mM

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H 2 O 2 solution were added to attain a final concentration of 05 mM H 2 O 2. After 5 min, 03 ml of catalase solution (120 g) was added and the solution was left for another 10 min, with occasional shaking. Then 100 l of 26 mM pyrogallol was added and the rate of increase in the absorbance at 420 nm per min was recorded as before. A control experiment was run side by side in the absence of E. coli extract. Polyacrylamide disc gel electrophoresis of tissue homogenate or Tsuchihasi extract of erythrocyte haemolysate was performed in Trisglycine buffer, pH 83, according to the method of Davis (1964). After electrophoresis, each gel was soaked in a tube containing a mixture of 3 ml of 50 mM potassium phosphate buffer, pH 65, and 2 ml of a solution of 2 mg NBT in water for 1 h in the dark. Then the gels were transferred into separate staining tubes each containing a mixture of 5 ml of 50 mM potassium phosphate buffer, pH 65, and 04 ml of 025 mM pyrogallol solution. The gels were stained violet with achromatic zones in the region of SOD Results and discussion SOD assay by the pyrogallol method is dependent on the pH of the assay mixture. The rate of increase in absorbance at 420 nm per min increased with increasing pH from 8289. We observed that better sensitivity and reproducibility were obtained when the pH of the assay mixture was kept at 85. At this pH, the autoxidation of pyrogallol was inhibited about 88% by 2 pyrogallol units of bovine erythrocyte SOD indicating that the reduction was mediated via. O 2 When applied to liver homogenate, the absorbance at 420 nm was linear with time up to 3 min. Figure 1 shows that when per cent inhibition is plotted against amount (l) of liver homogenate, the graph is linear from about 2870% inhibition, 50% inhibition being obtained with 5 l homogenate. When the liver homogenate was replaced by pure bovine erythrocyte SOD diluted to identical activity, i.e., 50% inhibition per 5 l SOD solution, an overlapping plot was obtained. An overlapping plot was also obtained with a fifty-fifty (v/v) mixture of liver homogenate and pure SOD solution. When the SOD assay was carried out by the X/XOD/Cyt c3+ method, a linear graph was obtained from about 2063% inhibition. In this case again, pure SOD solution or a fiftyfifty mixture (v/v) of liver homogenate and SOD solution gave an overlapping graph. However, when 50% inhibition was taken as one unit of SOD, the unit obtained by the pyrogallol method was approximately two times the value obtained by the X/XOD/Cyt c3+ method. This has also been mentioned by Beyer and Fridovich (1987). SOD assay by the X/XOD/NBT method cannot be carried out in undialysed tissue homogenate, because ascorbic acid in the homogenate interferes with this method. The average ascorbic acid contents of rat adrenal gland, brain and lung were 1600, 275 and 200 g per g tissue respectively. If undialysed tissue homogenates were added to the assay mixture, the average concentrations of ascorbic acid would have been 340 in the case of adrenal gland, 256 for brain, and 227 for lung. We observed that 25 ascorbic acid in the assay mixture containing sodium carbonate solution, pH 102, reduced NBT resulting in an increase of absorbance of 0009 at 550 nm. The absorbance increased linearly with increasing concentration of ascorbic acid and this was not inhibited by SOD. Figure 2 shows that though the X/XOD/NBT method is applicable to pure SOD solution, it cannot be used for liver homogenate even when the homogenate is extensively dialysed to free it from ascorbic acid or other small reducing

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Figure 1. Per cent inhibition as a function of amount (l) of liver homogenate and pure SOD solution, () and () represent liver homogenate solution and pure SOD solution, respectively, assayed by the pyrogallol method.() represents liver homogenate or pure SOD solution assayed by the X/XOD/Cyt c3+ method. Details of the pyrogallol method are given under materials and methods. The assay mixture for X/XOD/Cyt c3+ method contained, in a final volume of 2 ml, 50 mM potassium phosphate buffer pH 78, 01 mM EDTA, 01 mM ferricytochrome c, 05 mM xanthine and the amount of xanthine oxidase (about 25 mU) required to obtain a change of absorption of about 002 per min at 550 nm. The amount of xanthine oxidase needed varied with different lots of xanthine oxidase obtained from Sigma Chemical Co. The reaction was initiated by the addition of xanthine oxidase. The assay mixture was quickly transferred to a 15 ml cuvette and readings were taken against blank at 550 nm for 2 min from the 30th second after addition of xanthine oxidase. All the reagents were prepared in 50 mM potassium phosphate buffer, pH 78. The blank cuvette contained everything except xanthine oxidase.

components of the tissue. Contrary to the results obtained by the pyrogallol method or the X/XOD/Cyt c3+ method (figure 1), in the X/XOD/NBT method using sodium carbonate solution, pH 102, there was a decrease in per cent inhibition with increasing liver homogenate concentration (figure 2). While in the X/XOD/Cyt c3+ method 4 l liver homogenate produced 20% inhibition and 16 l produced 78% inhibition, in the X/XOD/NBT method using sodium carbonate solution, pH 102, 4 l homogenate produced 46% inhibition and 20 l produced 13% inhibition. Figure 2 also shows that when sodium carbonate solution was replaced by potassium phosphate buffer, pH 78, the X/XOD/NBT method could be applied only to pure SOD solution but not to the liver homogenate. Like in the case of sodium carbonate solution, in the potassium phosphate buffer also there was a decrease in per cent inhibition with increasing liver homogenate concentration: 4 l homogenate produced 34% inhibition and 20 l produced 25% inhibition. When the liver homogenate was diluted 5-fold, 4 l of the diluted homogenate produced 16% inhibition and 1 l practically produced no inhibition. Oberly and Spitz (1984) stressed the use of catalase in the X/XOD/NBT assay of SOD. Figure 2 shows that the use of catalase in the assay mixture produced about 44% recovery of per cent inhibition but the pattern of the plot remained similar. These results would indicate that X/XOD/NBT assay is not applicable to SOD assay in crude tissue homogenate irrespective of whether the buffer is sodium carbonate solution, pH 102, or

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Figure 2. Per cent inhibition as a function of amount (l) of liver homogenate and pure SOD solution.( ) and ( ) represent pure SOD solution assayed by X/XOD/NBT method using sodium carbonate solution, pH 102, and potassium phosphate buffer, pH 78, respectively.() and (O) represent liver homogenate solution assayed by X/XOD/NBT method using sodium carbonate solution, pH 102, and potassium phosphate buffer, pH 78, respectively. () represents liver homogenate solution assayed by X/XOD/NBT method using potassium phosphate buffer, pH 78, containing 40 g catalase. The assay mixture for X/XOD/NBT method using sodium carbonate solution contained, in a final volume of 2 ml, 50 mM sodium carbonate solution pH 102, 1 104 EDTA, 25 105 NBT, and sufficient amount of xanthine oxidase (approximately 7 mU) to obtain a change of absorption of about 002 per min at 550 nm. The reaction was initiated by the addition of l l04M (final concentration) xanthine. The assay mixture for X/XOD/NBT method using potassium phosphate buffer contained, in a final volume of 2 ml, 50 mM potassium buffer pH 78, 1 mM DTPA, 1 104 NBT and xanthine oxidase (approximately 15 mU) to obtain a change of absorption of about 002 per min at 550 nm. The reaction was initiated by the addition of 1 104M (final concentration) xanthine. The assay mixture was quickly transferred to a 15 ml cuvette and readings were taken against blank at 550 nm for 2 min from the 30th second after addition of xanthine. The blank cuvette contained everything except xanthine.

potassium phosphate buffer, pH 78. It was further observed that in the X/XOD/NBT assay, irrespective of the buffer used, there was a decrease in per cent inhibition with increasing amount of liver homogenate added to pure SOD solution, In the absence of liver homogenate, 5 l of pure SOD solution (equivalent to one pyrogallol unit of SOD) produced 65% inhibition with sodium carbonate solution, pH 102, and 60% inhibition with potassium phosphate buffer, pH 78. After addition of 12 l liver homogenate, the per cent inhibition dropped to 35 and 33%, respectively. This might be due to some non-specific reduction of NBT by certain reductants including NBT reductase and a number of dehydrogenases usually present in crude tissue homogenates. Therefore, the data published previously (PeetersJorris et al., 1975) on SOD activities in different tissues of rats assayed by the X/XOD/NBT method are questionable. Table 1 shows Cu, Zn-SOD and Mn-SOD activities in different tissues of rat measured by the pyrogallol method. The highest activity is present in the liver, which is followed by adrenal gland and kidney. SOD activities of brain and pancreas are low. In separate experiments it was observed that the mitochondrial

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Table 1. SOD activities in different tissues of rat.

Each result is the average ( SD) of results from 8 young male rats (Charles Foster strain) of body weight between 175 and 250 g. SOD was assayed by the pyrogallol autoxidation method.

fraction separated at 8,500 g for 15 min by differential centrifugation of liver and kidney homogenates in 025 sucrose contained almost all the Mn-SOD activity. Table 2 shows the SOD activities in different tissues of rats of different ages, measured by the pyrogallol method. The activity was markedly low in foetus and new-born rat tissues. There was a slow but steady increase of SOD activity with postnatal development. The value increased with age and attained maximum at about 34 months after which it remained more or less constant up to the end of the study, about 9 months. The increase of SOD activity in rat tissues during postnatal development is probably due to an effect of exposure of the animals to atmospheric oxygen. However, a different picture was obtained in the case of erythrocyte SOD. The value was highest in 1-day-old rat and gradually decreased up to the age of 22 days and remained more or less constant up to the age of 300 days. The high erythrocyte SOD value at birth is probably to protect the haemoglobin of the new-born from oxygen toxicity.
Table 2. SOD activities at different ages in different tissues of rat.

Each result is the average (SD) of results from 8 young male albino rats. a Foetuses of 18 days gestation period were used; 24 rats were taken,

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Table 3 shows the Cu, Zn-SOD and Mn-SOD activities in human cancer tissues measured by the pyrogallol method. The results for two samples of liver cancer and one each of oesophagus and gall bladder cancer, in contrast to those obtained for animal cancers (Oberly and Buettner, 1979) indicate that Cu, Zn-SOD is markedly low, while Mn-SOD is unaltered. Low values for Cu, Zn-SOD activity have been obtained in rabbit liver bearing tumour (Takada et al., 1982), human kidney cancer (Westman and Marklund, 1981) and in other human cancer tissues (Sykes et al., 1978).

Table 3. Cu, Zn-SOD and Mn-SOD activities in human cancer tissues.

Samples of human liver, gall bladder and oesophagus were obtained through a local hospital from individuals subjected to laparotomy and thoracic surgery. The tissues were collected and stored in ice within 5 min after surgery, and SOD assay was performed the same day.

The pyrogallol method can be used for the assay of Fe-SOD in E. coli extract. Table 4 shows that 69% of the total SOD activity is Mn-SOD and 31% Fe-SOD.
Table 4. Mn-SOD and Fe-SOD activities in E. coli extract.

a Units/mg protein. E. coli strain was used.

The pyrogallol method can also be used to identify SOD on gels after polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Figure 3 shows the achromatic zone obtained with Tsuchihasi extract of rat erythrocyte haemolysate, which disappeared after treatment with 2 mM KCN solution, indicating the presence of Cu, Zn- SOD in the erythrocyte haemolysate.

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Figure 3. Activity staining for SOD on Polyacrylamide electrophoretograms of Tsuchihasi extract of rat erythrocyte haemolysate. Samples equivalent to one pyrogallol unit of SOD were applied to 10% gels. (1) Rat erythrocyte Tsuchihasi extract; (2) same as (1) except that the gel was soaked in the NBT solution containing 2 mM KCN. Similar results were obtained with pure bovine erythrocyte SOD or rat liver 77,000 g soluble supernatant.

Acknowledgements This work was supported by grants-in-aid from the Department of Science and Technology, the Indian Council of Medical Research and the University Grants Commission, New Delhi. We thank Dr A. C. Banerjee for his active interest in this work. References
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