BIOXYTECHÒ MDA-586™

Lipid peroxidation is a well-established mechanism of cellular injury in both plants and animals,
and is used as an indicator of oxidative stress in cells and tissues. Lipid peroxides, derived from
polyunsaturated fatty acids, are unstable and decompose to form a complex series of
compounds. These include reactive carbonyl compounds, of which the most abundant is
malondialdehyde (MDA). Therefore, measurement of malondialdehyde is widely used as an
indicator of lipid peroxidation (1). Increased levels of lipid peroxidation products have been
associated with a variety of chronic diseases in both humans (2, 3) and model systems (4, 5).
MDA reacts readily with amino groups on proteins and other biomolecules to form a variety of
adducts (1), including cross-linked products (6). MDA also forms adducts with DNA bases that
are mutagenic (7, 8) and possibly carcinogenic (9). DNA-protein cross-links are another result of
the reaction between DNA and MDA (10). The TBARS method is commonly used to measure
MDA in biological samples (11). However, this reaction is relatively nonspecific; both free and
protein-bound MDA can react. The MDA-586 method is designed to assay free MDA or, after a
hydrolysis step, total MDA (i.e., free and protein-bound Schiff base conjugates). The assay
conditions serve to minimize interference from other lipid peroxidation products, such as 4-
hydroxyalkenals.