Associate Dean of the College of Pharmacy Dr. Kelley Kiningham recently published a chapter titled, “Manganese Superoxide Dismutase” in the book “Manganese in Health and Disease.” Kiningham’s chapter summarizes studies from the last 30 years on the antioxidant.

The mitochondrial enzyme is one of three superoxide dismutases in humans; however, it is the only one that is essential for life.  The enzyme has been shown to be protective in in vivo models of adriamycin, methamphetamine and taxol toxicity.  In addition various researchers, including Dr. Kiningham, have shown that expression of manganese superoxide dismutase is a tumor suppressor.

Clinical trials based on the work of Kiningham and other researchers in the field have lead to the development of synthetic drugs based on the MnSOD enzyme and are currently being tested in a variety of conditions where oxidative stress is known to occur.