PEROXIDATION
OF FATTY ACIDS
As lipid peroxidation involves complex reactions and a great
variety of substrates, understanding of these processes has come from studies of simple
model substrates such as fatty acids of increasing unsaturation degree (the main fraction
of membrane lipids) or cholesterol (abundant in blood plasma and cell membranes).
It is now well admitted that lipids are non-enzymatically
peroxidized through two types of reaction:
autoxidation or photo-oxygenation.
Besides these mechanisms, fatty acids may also be peroxidized via enzyme activities:
enzymatic peroxidation
To know more about the mechanisms of fatty acid oxidation:
Primary peroxidation products are
hydroperoxides in which double bond(s) may have moved or/and changed configuration. These
products may be structurally rearranged, converted into secondary peroxidation
products, either smaller molecules by fission or bigger by dimerization.
Autoxidation or photo-oxygenation of fatty acids give slightly different products.
To know more about: Primary peroxidation products:
To know more about: Secondary peroxidation products:
