The inhibitory effects of 21 mimics of superoxide dismutase on luminol-mediated chemiluminescence emitted from PMA-stimulated polymorphonuclear leukocyte.

Four groups comprising 21 superoxide dismutase (SOD) mimics synthesized by us were comparatively studied for their inhibitory effects on luminol-mediated chemiluminescence emitted from phorbol myristate acetate (PMA)-stimulated polymorphonuclear leukocyte (PMNL). Among these groups, 20-membered macrocyclic bicopper(II) complexes and 13-membered macrocyclic dioxotetramine copper(II) complexes exhibited relatively higher activities of scavenging reactive oxygen species (ROS) produced by PMA-stimulated PMNL as compared with polyamine Cu(II)-Zn(II) complexes and copper(II) complexes of bis-shiff-base. Moreover, distinctly different effects of SOD mimics in the biological system have been found even in the same group. It is suggested that the biological effects of some SOD mimics are related to their structures.