Lipid peroxidation: physiological levels and dual biological effects.

Lipid peroxidation (LPO) has been shown to induce disturbance of membrane organization and functional loss and modification of proteins and DNA bases, and it has been implicated in the pathogenesis of various diseases. At the same time, LPO products have been shown to act as redox signaling mediators. Free and ester forms of both polyunsaturated fatty acids and cholesterol are important substrates for LPO in vivo and they are oxidized by both enzymatic and nonenzymatic mechanisms to give a variety of products. The results of numerous studies reported in the literatures show that the levels of LPO products in plasma of healthy human subjects are below 1 muM and that the molar ratios of LPO products to the respective parent lipids are below 1/1000, that is, below 0.1%. The levels of LPO products in human erythrocytes were found to be higher than those in plasma. Considerable levels of cholesterol oxidation products were observed. Although many LPO products exert cytotoxicity, sublethal concentrations of LPO products induce cellular adaptive responses and enhance tolerance against subsequent oxidative stress through upregulation of antioxidant compounds and enzymes. This adaptive response is observed not only for chemically reactive alpha,beta-unsaturated carbonyl compounds such as 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal and 15-deoxy-delta-12,14-prostaglandin J(2) but also for chemically stable compounds such as hydroxyoctadecadienoic acid, hydroxylcholesterol, and lysophosphatidylcholine. Such opposite dual functions of LPO products imply that LPO, and probably oxidative stress in general, may exert both deleterious and beneficial effects in vivo. LPO as well as reactive oxygen and nitrogen species has been shown to play an important role as a regulator of gene expression and cellular signaling messenger. In order to exert physiologically important functions as a regulator of gene expression and mediator of cellular signaling, the formation of LPO products must be strictly controlled and programmed. In contrast to LPO products by enzymatic oxidation, it appears difficult to regulate the formation of free radical-mediated LPO products. Even such unregulated LPO products may exert beneficial effects at low levels, but excessive unregulated LPO may lead to pathological disorders and diseases.