Researchers believe the benefit derives from a newly discovered role for SOD1 as a self-regulating redox sensor for NADPH oxidase-derived O2• production.
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NADPH oxidase is an enzyme that effectively reduces O2 to superoxide (O2–•), which can be used by the immune system to kill bacteria and fungi.
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Due to the selectivity of its inhibition, apocynin can be widely used as an inhibitor of NADPH oxidase without interfering in other aspects of the immune system.
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Familial ALS: Apocynin extended the lives of mutant mice and reduced glial cell toxicity of cultured cells lines with a defective Superoxide Dismutase-1 (SOD1) gene -- a genetic defect found in some people with hereditary amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease).