Digital Commons Network^™

Methylene Blue As An Inhibitor Of Superoxide Generation By Xanthene Oxidase: A Potential New Drug For The Attenuation Of Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury, Steven C. Salaris, Charles F. Babbs, William D. Voorhees

Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering Faculty Publications

Tissue oxidases, especially xanthine oxidase, have been proposed as primary sources of toxic oxygen radicals in many experimental models of disease states. Among these, ischemia-reperfusion injury may be of the greatest clinical interest. In this paper we propose the use of methylene blue as a means of suppressing the production of superoxide radicals, O2, by acting as an alternative electron acceptor for xanthine oxidase. Previous work has indicated that methylene blue accepts electrons from xanthine oxidase at the iron-sulfur center. Initial experiments in our laboratory demonstrated that (1) pairs of electrons from each enzymatic oxidation are transferred to methylene blue, …