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Oxygen is the most important element for life in the animal kingdom particularly for humans.
During its utilization by the human body, oxygen gives birth to very reactive forms called “free radicals”. Free radicals are destroyed by the natural defense systems named “antioxidants”.

The body’s antioxidant mechanisms can be classified into 2 groups:

• Dietary antioxidants (exogenous): certain foods are rich in antioxidant substances like vitamins (Vitamin C, Vitamin E and Vitamin A or its precursor beta-carotene), minerals (Selenium, Zinc, Copper and Manganese) and other substances, including the polyphenols found in grapes and green tea.
• Enzymatic antioxidants made by the body (endogenous): the three main enzymes are Super Oxide Dismutase (SOD), Catalase and Glutathi-one Peroxidase.

Among these enzymes, SOD intervenes in the first transformation by dismuting the most reactive forms (and therefore the most dangerous for the cells) of oxygen – the Super Oxide radicals – into ions that are less reactive, themselves destroyed by the two other enzymes. This transformation is called dismutation, thus its name Dismutase.

If these defense mechanisms do not immediately eliminate the free radicals, the body’s cells suffer from an “oxidative stress” that can lead to or promote health problems.
Scientific studies carried out during the last decades have established that oxidative stress is implicated in numerous pathologies including respiratory problems, memory loss, cardio-vascular problems, vision problems and arthritis. This has led to a great number of medical natural or synthetic antioxidants on the market. Nutritionists and doctors recommend diets rich in exogenous antioxidants (Vitamins, Minerals, Polyphenols…etc) and, if need be, in the form of dietary supplements.

A supplement of antioxidant enzymes, particularly in SOD, has already been considered and tested by different scientific teams. Unfortunately, all their works showed that the oral administration of SOD was inefficient due to the fragility of this enzyme, which is immediately destroyed by the gastric acidity. Moreover, concerns linked to sanitary risks led to giving up the use of bovine SOD, which at the time, was used by intramuscular injection, the only practical method.