Lipid Peroxidation and Its Toxicological Implications

Lipid peroxidation is a free radical oxidation of polyunsaturated fatty acids such as linoleic acid or arachidonic acid. This process has been related with various pathologies and disease status mainly because of the oxidation products formed during the process. The oxidation products include reactive aldehydes such as malondialdehyde and 4-hydroxynonenal. These reactive aldehydes can form adducts with DNAs and proteins, leading to the alterations in their functions to cause various diseases. This review will provide a short summary on the implication of lipid peroxidation on cancer, atherosclerosis, and neurodegeneration as well as chemical and biochemical mechanisms by which these adducts affect the pathological conditions. In addition, select examples will be presented where antioxidants were used to counteract oxidative damage caused by lipid peroxidation. At the end, isoprostanes are discussed as a gold standard for the assessment of oxidative damages.