MnTBAP is often referred to as an SOD mimic in numerous models of oxidative stress. We have recently reported that pure MnTBAP does not dismute superoxide, but commercial/ill-purified samples are able to perform O2•− dismutation with low-to-moderate efficacy via non-innocent Mn-containing impurities. Herein, we show that neither commercial nor pure MnTBAP could substitute for SOD enzyme in the SOD-deficient E. coli model, while MnTE-2-PyP-treated SOD-deficient E. coli grew as well as wild-type strain. This SOD-specific system indicates that MnTBAP does not act as an SOD mimic in vivo. In another model, carrageenan-induced pleurisy in mice, inflammation was evidenced by increased pleural fluid exudate, and neutrophil infiltration and activation: these events were blocked by 0.3 mg/kg of MnTE-2-PyP and to a slightly lesser extent with 10 mg/kg of MnTBAP. Also, 3-nitrotyrosine formation, an indication of the peroxynitrite existence in vivo, was blocked by both compounds; again MnTE-2-PyP was 33-fold more effective. Pleurisy model data indicate that MnTBAP exert some protective actions in common with MnTE-2-PyP, which are not O2•−-related, and can be fully rationalized if one considers that the common biological role shared by MnTBAP and MnTE-2-PyP is related to their reduction of peroxynitrite and carbonate radical, the latter arising from ONOO− adduct with CO2. The log kcat (O2•−) value for MnTBAP is estimated to be about 3.16, which is ~5 and ~7 orders of magnitude smaller than the SOD activity of the potent SOD mimic MnTE-2-PyP and Cu, Zn-SOD, respectively. This very low value indicates that MnTBAP is very inefficient in dismuting superoxide to be of any biological impact, which was confirmed in the SOD-deficient E. coli model. Peroxynitrite scavenging ability of MnTBAP, however, is only ~2.5 orders of magnitude smaller than that of MnTE-2-PyP and is not significantly affected by the presence of the SOD-active impurities in commercial MnTBAP sample (log kred(ONOO−) = 5.06 for pure and 4.97 for commercial sample). The reduction of carbonate radical is equally fast with MnTBAP and MnTE-2-PyP. The dose of MnTBAP required to yield oxidative stress protection and block nitrotyrosine formation in the pleurisy model is >1.5 orders of magnitude higher than that of MnTE-2-PyP, which could be related to the smaller ability of MnTBAP to scavenge peroxynitrite. The slightly better protection observed with the commercial MnTBAP sample (relative to the pure MnTBAP one) could arise from its impurities, which, by scavenging O2•−, reduce consequently the overall peroxynitrite, and secondary ROS/RNS levels. These observations have profound biological repercussions as they may suggest that the effect of MnTBAP observed in numerous studies may conceivably relate to peroxynitrite scavenging. Moreover, provided that pure MnTBAP is unable to dismute superoxide at any significant extent, but is able to partially scavenge peroxynitrite and carbonate radical, this compound may prove valuable to distinguish ONOO−/CO3•− from O2•− pathways.