Abstract
Recent evidence for the occurrence of
in vivo lipid peroxidation in the context of cerebral ischemia/reperfusion, as detected by classical tests such thiobarbituric acid reactivity and conjugated diene absorbance, is critically reviewed. Despite the widespread perception that lipid peroxidation is well-established and to be expected under such circumstances, in general these detection methods have not been applied with rigor sufficient to prove the quantitative existence of lipid peroxides unequivocally. The development of sensitive methods which can be utilized in small tissue samples at early times after brain injury is needed. In particular, the conditions necessary for the establishment of a more rigorous and sensitive method of conjugated diene detection in terms of difference spectral analysis are detailed and illustrated. In addition, a new autofluorescence in the far-ultraviolet region is shown to be associated with oxygenated conjugated diene-containing compounds. Copyright © 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.