The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of superoxide dismutase (SOD) overexpression in an acute model of hepatic oxidative stress. Oxidative stress was established using a warm ischemia-reperfusion model, where nearly 70% of the liver was made hypoxic by clamping the hepatic artery and a branch of the portal vein for 1 hr followed by restoration of blood flow. Animals were infected i.v. with 1 x 10(9) plaque-forming units (PFU) of adenovirus containing the transgene for cytosolic Cu/Zn-SOD (Ad.SOD1), mitochondrial Mn-SOD (Ad.SOD2), extracellular Cu/Zn-SOD (Ad.SOD3), or the bacterial reporter gene for beta-galactosidase (Ad.lacZ) 3 days prior to experiments. Ad.SOD1 and Ad.SOD2 caused a three-fold increase in SOD expression and activity in liver compared to Ad.lacZ-treated control animals. Intravenous administration of Ad.SOD3 increased SOD activity slightly in serum but not in liver. Increases in serum transaminases and pathology due to ischemia-reperfusion were blunted by Ad.SOD1 and Ad.SOD2; however, extracellular SOD had no significant effect. Moreover, lipid-derived free radical adducts (a(N) = 15.65 G and a(H)(beta) = 2.78 G) were increased by ischemia-reperfusion. This effect was blunted by about 60% in Ad.SOD1- and Ad.SOD2-infected animals, but was unaffected by Ad.SOD3. However, when high doses of Ad.SOD3 (3 x 10(10) PFU) were administered. serum SOD activity was elevated three-fold and was protective against hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury under these conditions. These data demonstrate that adenoviral delivery of superoxide dismutase can effectively reduce hepatic oxidative stress.