Photochemiluminescent detection of antiradical activity. VI. Antioxidant characteristics of human blood plasma, low density lipoprotein, serum albumin and amino acids during in vitro oxidation.

During investigation of the mechanism of therapeutic efficacy of UV (254 nm)-irradiated autologous blood, the antioxidant capacity (AC) of plasma, serum albumin, 20 amino acids, uric acid, ascorbic acid and alpha-tocopherol was measured after irradiation in vitro. AC of plasma demonstrated a biphasic time course (decrease to in a minimum (greater zero) followed by an increase). AC of uric acid, ascorbic acid and alpha-tocopherol diminished under irradiation to zero. In contrast, albumin and seven amino acids developed AC following irradiation. During the Cu(+2)-induced oxidation of low-density lipoprotein (LDL), the AC measured in a system for water-soluble substances appeared, after a lag-phase, to be comparable to that of the conjugated diene formation; AC of LDL measured in a system for lipid-soluble substances demonstrated a biphasic course. Our results suggest that: (a) the oxidized products of some amino acids and proteins acquire antiradical properties at the same time that they are being produced; (b) the biphasic character of changes of antioxidant properties of blood plasma during UV irradiation represents the overlapping of two processes: disappearing of antioxidants and acquisition of AC by (lipo)proteins; and (c) the measurement of AC of blood plasma (lipo)proteins can possibly serve to detect the existence and extent of oxidative stress in human organism. Copyright 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.