Carvedilol inhibits reactive oxygen species generation by leukocytes and oxidative damage to amino acids

Background - The purpose of this study was to test whether carvedilol has an antioxidant effect in humans in vivo. Methods and Results - We administered 3.125 mg of carvedilol twice daily to normal subjects for 1 week. ROS generation by polymorphonuclear leukocytes and mononuclear cells fell from 314 ± 183.43 and 303 ± 116 mV to 185 ± 157 and 189 ± 63 mV (P < 0.025), respectively, m-Tyrosine fell from 4.24 ± 0.99 to 4.03 ± 0.97 ng/mL (P = 0.01), and o-tyrosine fell from 4.59 ± 1.10 to 4.24 ± 0.99 ng/mL (P = 0.004) in the absence of a change in phenylalanine concentrations. Conclusions - We conclude that carvedilol significantly inhibits ROS generation by leukocytes and oxidative conversion of phenylalanine to m- and o-tyrosine.