Free ADP-ribose is a putative second messenger and also a potentially toxic compound due to its non-enzymic reactivity towards protein side chains. ADP-ribose hydrolysis is catalysed by NDP-sugar/alcohol pyrophosphatases of differing specificity, including a highly specific, low-K(m) ADP-ribose pyrophosphatase. In humans, a submicromolar-K(m) ADP-ribose pyrophosphatase has been purified from placenta, while recombinant NUDT9 has been described as a similarly specific enzyme with a nudix motif, but with a 10(2)-10(3) higher K(m). Here, a comparative study of both proteins is presented showing that they are in fact enzymically indistinguishable; crucially, they both have submicromolar K(m) for ADP-ribose. This study firmly supports the view that the ADP-ribose pyrophosphatase present in human tissues is a product of the NUDT9 gene. In addition, this study reveals previously unknown properties of both enzyme forms. They display the same, differential properties in the presence of Mg(2+) or Mn(2+) as activating cations with respect to substrate specificity, ADP-ribose saturation kinetics, and inhibition by fluoride. Treatment with H(2)O(2) alters the Mg(2+)/Mn(2+) responses and increases the K(m) values for ADP-ribose, changes that are reversed by DTT. The results are discussed in relation to the proposed roles for ADP-ribose in oxidative/nitrosative stress and for ADP-ribose pyrophosphatase as a protective enzyme whose function is to limit the intracellular accumulation of ADP-ribose.