Callahan H L, Hazen-Martin D, Crouch R K, James E R
Department of Ophthalmology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston 29425.
Infect Immun. 1993 Mar;61(3):1157-63. doi: 10.1128/iai.61.3.1157-1163.1993.
Superoxide dismutase (SOD) may not only perform a housekeeping role in filarial worms but also assist in defense against oxidants generated by host immune cells. Both Dirofilaria and Onchocerca adult filariae and microfilariae contain relatively high activities of the antioxidant enzyme SOD; adult Dirofilaria worms also secrete SOD in vitro. In addition, superoxide radicals are relatively impotent against Dirofilaria and Onchocerca microfilariae in vitro. In assessing the role of SOD, we determined the anatomic localization of SOD in D. immitis adult worms by immunolocalization at the light-microscopic level. We found that anti-D. immitis SOD did not stain parasite tissues homogeneously, in support of the hypothesis that SOD does not have only a housekeeping role and that the pattern of staining may suggest another role(s) for SOD.
超氧化物歧化酶（SOD）可能不仅在丝虫中发挥看家作用，还有助于抵御宿主免疫细胞产生的氧化剂。恶丝虫和盘尾丝虫的成虫及微丝蚴均含有相对较高活性的抗氧化酶SOD；恶丝虫成虫在体外也会分泌SOD。此外，超氧自由基在体外对恶丝虫和盘尾丝虫微丝蚴的杀伤力相对较弱。在评估SOD的作用时，我们通过光学显微镜水平的免疫定位确定了SOD在犬恶丝虫成虫中的解剖定位。我们发现，抗犬恶丝虫SOD并未均匀地对寄生虫组织进行染色，这支持了SOD不仅具有看家作用的假说，且染色模式可能暗示了SOD的其他作用。
