The pro-oxidant activity of aluminum

Aluminum, a non-redox-active metal is, nevertheless, a pro-oxidant both in in vitro preparations and in vivo. It facilitates both superoxide- and iron-driven biological oxidation by mechanisms that remain to be resolved. More than 10 years ago Fridovich and colleagues suggested that the facilitation of superoxide-driven biological oxidation by aluminum was due to an interaction between the metal and the superoxide radical anion (Free Radic. Biol. Med. 13: 79–81; 1992). This thesis has been examined herein and it is concluded that much, if not all, of the pro-oxidant activity of aluminum might be explained by the formation of an aluminum superoxide semireduced radical ion.