Radiochemical changes in phosphatidylcholine

Radiolytic oxidation of phosphatidyl choline leads to production of a mixture of products with various physicochemical properties. Appearance of conjugated hydroperoxides with a typical absorption band at 232 nm and unsaturated carbonyl compounds with absorption at 270 to 280 nm and reacting with 2-thiobarbituric acid is indicative of radiation injury to the fatty acid part of phospholipid. Exposure of phosphatidyl choline to radiation elicits a break in the phosphoether bond with splitting of phosphate, the radiochemical yield of which constitutes 0.4 molecule per 100 eV.