Lipid peroxidation during myocardial reperfusion.

Reperfusion of heart muscle after prolonged ischaemia is associated with metabolic and functional abnormalities and eventual cell death. Free radical induced lipid peroxidation of cell membranes is thought to be a major mechanism in the evolution of reperfusion damage. The evidences in support for this kind of damage are based on tissue malondialdehyde quantitation by the thiobarbituric acid test (TBA-test). In an attempt to verify this topic we have subjected isolated and Langendorff perfused rabbit hearts to a period of 60 minutes of severe ischaemia plus 30 minutes of reperfusion. At appropriate time points malondialdehyde was determined in the tissue by means of TBA-test and directly by reversed phase, high pressure, liquid chromatography (HPLC).