Open Access

ARTICLE

Carbocysteine lysine salt monohydrate (SCMC-LYS) is a selective scavenger of reactive oxygen intermediates (ROIs)

Laura Brandolini¹, Marcello Allegretti¹, Valerio Berdini¹, Maria Neve Cervellera¹, Patrizia Mascagni¹, Matteo Rinaldi¹, Gabriella Melillo¹, Pietro Ghezzi², Manuela Mengozzi², Riccardo Bertini^1,*

1 Department of Preclinical Pharmacology, Dompé S.p.A. Research Center, L’Aquila, Italy
2 Laboratory of Neuroimmunology, Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research, Milano, Italy

* Corresponding Author: Riccardo Bertini,

European Cytokine Network 2003, 14(1), 20-26.

Abstract

Carbocysteine lysine salt monohydrate (SCMC-Lys) is a well-known mucoactive drug whose therapeutic efficacy is commonly related to the ability of SCMC-Lys to replace fucomucins by sialomucins. The aim of this study was to determine if SCMC-Lys could exert an anti-oxidant action by scavenging reactive oxygen intermediates (ROIs). Our results show that SCMC-Lys proved effective as a selective scavenger of hypochlorous acid (HOCl) and hydroxyl radical (OH• ), this effect being related to the reactivity of the SCMC tioether group. The scavenger activity of SCMC-Lys was observed in free cellular system as well as in activated human polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs). SCMC-Lys scavenger activity on HOCl was paralleled by a powerful protection from HOCl-mediated inactivation of a1-antitripsin (a1-AT) inhibitor, the main serum protease inhibitor. Production of interleukin-(IL-)8, a major mediator of PMN recruitment in inflammatory diseases, is known to be mediated by intracellular OH• . SCMC-Lys significantly reduced IL-8 production on stimulated human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) in the same range of concentrations affecting OH• activity. It is concluded that SCMC-Lys could exert, in addition to its mucoactive capacity, an anti-oxidant action, thus contributing to the therapeutic efficacy of SCMC-Lys.

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