Fluorescent substances in mouse and human sera as a parameter of in vivo lipid peroxidation.

Water-soluble fluorescent substances like lipofuscin were found in the protein fraction of mouse and human sera and had fluorescence characteristics with excitation and emission maxima at 335-340 and 435-440 nm for mice, and at 355-360 and 430-435 nm for human, respectively. When oxidized [U-14 C]linoleic acid was given intraperitoneally to mice, or added to the serum in vitro, both the fluorescence intensity and radioactivity of serum protein increased dose-dependently in the two tests. Also, the fluorescent substances responded well to acceleration of in vivo lipid peroxidation caused by carbon tetrachloride. These results indicate that the substances were some binding compounds between the degraded lipids and serum proteins, and that they could be taken as a parameter of in vivo lipid peroxidation. The distribution of the pigments in the serum proteins, albumin and globulins, was shown to depend upon the number of free amino groups in each protein which appear to be binding sites of degraded lipids. Spectral characteristics and some chemical properties of the substances suggest that they might not be conjugated Schiff bases formed from protein and malondialdehyde but might be due to some other stable compounds. Significantly high levels of the substances were observed in sera of patients with diabetes and hypertension.