Extracellular superoxide dismutase for the treatment of inflammatory skin diseases

The occurrence of chronic skin inflammatory diseases, such as psoriasis and atopic dermatitis, has been increasing. However, currently available medicines are not sufficient to treat skin inflammatory diseases, so the development of effective medicines without the side effects has been demanded. Oxidative stress by accumulated reactive oxygen species induces and/or promotes inflammatory reactions. Therefore, many anti-oxidant molecules have been reported to have anti-inflammatory effects. Extracellular superoxide dismutase (SOD3) is an endogenous anti-oxidant enzyme that dismutates superoxide radicals into oxygen or hydrogen peroxide molecules in the extracellular space. A series of reports has suggested that exogenous recombinant SOD3 represses inflammatory responses not only by directly reducing reactive oxygen species but also by inhibiting cellular signaling pathways. Here, we demonstrate the potential of SOD3 as a novel biomedicine for treating inflammatory skin diseases and review preparations of ac...