Reactive oxygen metabolites have been implicated as important mediators of inflammation-induced intestinal injury associated with ischemia (and reperfusion), radiation, and inflammatory bowel disease. Because the colonic mucosa may be subjected to significant oxidant stress during times of acute and chronic inflammation, knowledge of the oxidant defense mechanisms in the colon is of biologic and potential clinical importance. Therefore, the objective of this study was to quantify the specific activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase, and GSH peroxidase in the normal human colon. We found low, but significant, amounts of all three enzymes in the mucosa, submucosa, and muscularis/serosa of the human colon. However, the mucosal, levels of SOD (3.6 +/- 0.3 units/mg protein), catalase (11 +/- 3 units/mg), and GSH peroxidase (15.2 +/- 0.8 mU/mg) represented only 8%, 4%, and 40%, respectively, of those values determined for human liver. Colonic epithelial cells derived from mucosal biopsies exhibited significantly higher specific activities for SOD (12 +/- 0.5 units/mg) and catalase (26 +/- 6 units/mg) when compared to whole mucosa, suggesting most of the mucosal activity was associated with the epithelial cells and not the lamina propria. In a comparative study, we found that a human colonic carcinoma cell line (CaCo-2) contained significantly lower SOD (6 +/- 0.5 units/mg) and catalase (6 +/- 0.6 units/mg) activities when compared to colonic epithelial cells. Taken together, our data suggest that: (1) the colonic mucosa is relatively deficient in antioxidant enzymes when compared to liver, and (2) most of the protective enzyme activity is localized within the epithelium and not the mucosal interstitium.