Serum extracellular superoxide dismutase in pediatric patients with various diseases as judged by an ELISA.

Extracellular superoxide dismutase (EC-SOD) concentration was measured in sera from 141 patients with 20 forms of infantile diseases including IDDM, SLE and epilepsy, 31 healthy children (controls), and 21 healthy young men by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay using a polyclonal antibody against human lung EC-SOD. Serum from patients with IDDM and fever of unknown origin had a significantly (p<0.05) lower concentration of EC-SOD than control serum. Part of sera from patients with the seven forms of diseases (SLE, viral infections, epilepsy, nephrosis, hyperthyroidism, hepatic disease, and Reye syndrome), on the other hand, had a greatly high concentration of EC-SOD, albeit not statistically significant. This SOD isoenzyme profile appears to be specific to each pediatric disease.