Antioxidants bleomycin

Antioxidant therapy might be promising medication for the treatment of some lung disorders. For example, lecithinized phosphatidylcholine-CuZnSOD suppressed the development of bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis in mice [284] these findings could be of relevance for the treatment of bleomycin-stimulated pulmonary fibrosis in humans. Davis et al. [285] recently demonstrated that the treatment of premature infants with recombinant human CuZnSOD may reduce early pulmonary injury. 

Oxidative stress reduces the rate of cell proliferation, and that occurring during chemotherapy may interfere with the cytotoxic effects of antineoplastic drugs, which depend on rapid proliferation of cancer cells for optimal activity. Antioxidants detoxify ROS and may enhance the anticancer effects of chemotherapy. For some supplements, activities beyond their antioxidant properties, such as inhibition of topoisomerase II or protein tyrosine kinases, may also contribute. ROS cause or contribute to certain side effects that are common to many anticancer drugs, such as gastrointestinal toxicity and muagenesis. ROS also contribute to side effects that occur only with individual agents, such as doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity, cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity, and bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis. Antioxidants can reduce or prevent many of these side effects, and for some supplements the protective effect results from activities other than their antioxidant properties. Certain side effects, however, such as alopecia and myelosuppression, are not prevented... 

Ledwozyn, A. (1991). Protective effect of liposome entrapped superoxide dismutase and catalase on bleomycin induced lung injury in rats. I. Antioxidant enzyme activities and lipid peroxidation. Acta. Vet. Hung. 39, 215-224. 

Laughton, M. J., Halliwell, B., Evans, P. J., and Hoult, J. R. (1989). Antioxidant and prooxidant actions of the plant phenolics quercetin, gossypol and myricetin. Effects on lipid peroxidation, hydroxyl radical generation and bleomycin-dependent damage to DNA. Biochem. Pharmacol. 38, 2859-2865. 

The oxidants are products of normal cellular respiration that are normally counterbalanced by an antioxidant defense system that prevents tissue destruction. The antioxidants include superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, ceruloplasmin, and a-tocopherol (vitamin E). Antioxidants are ubiquitous in the body. Hy-peroxia produces toxicity by overwhelming the antioxidant system. There is experimental evidence that a number of drugs and chemicals produce lung toxicity through increasing production of oxidants (e.g., bleomycin, cyclophosphamide, nitrofurantoin, and paraquat) and/or by inhibiting the antioxidant system (e.g., carmustine, cyclophosphamide, and nitrofurantoin). ... 

The catalytic antioxidant porphyrin manganese (III) tetrakis (4-benzoic acid) porphyrin (5mg/kg i.p. twice daily) attenuated the severe fibrotic response of the mouse lung induced by 3.2 U/kg bleomycin given intratracheally (Oury et al. 2001). 

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