Activity of superoxide dismutase copper/zinc type and prognosis in a cohort of patients with coronary artery disease

Aim: Superoxide dismutase (SOD) is important to control reactive oxygen species, but the relevance to human disease like coronary artery disease (CAD) and underlying ischemia/reperfusion injury is not clarified. Methods: For this study, 2239 patients with known CAD were prospectively followed with a median follow-up time period of 3.6 years and a maximum of 6.9 years. During follow-up cardiovascular death was reported in 103 cases. Results: SOD activity (log-transformed) was investigated as continuous and categorical variable, showing a significant influence on outcome in the fully adjusted model (p = 0.045). Conclusion: Increased SOD activity beyond the normal range in the human physiology is related to an adverse outcome in patients with CAD.