Pharmaceutical effect of manganese porphyrins on manganese superoxide dismutase deficient mice.

Mice lacking manganese-superoxide dismutase (Mn-SOD) activity exhibit typical pathology of dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). In the present study, the structure-activity relationship between the water-soluble manganese (Mn) porphyrin with SOD activity and the in vivo pharmaceutical effect on DCM is reported. The Mn-SOD-deficient mice were treated with Mn-porphyrins for 3 weeks. The treatment of a Mn-porphyrin, MnM2Py(2)P, suppressed the progression of cardiac dilation. These results suggest that the Mn-porphyrin MnM2Py(2)P treatment is proposed as a potential therapy for DCM.