4-Hydroxynonenal, a novel indicator of lipid peroxidation for reperfusion injury of the myocardium

4-Hydroxynonenal (HNE) has been proposed as an important marker of radical-induced lipid peroxidation (LPO) during postischemic reperfusion injury of the myocardium. Therefore, the liberation of HNE into the effluent of isolated perfused rat hearts was investigated. For the first time, the formation of the aldehyde is demonstrated in myocardium. During control perfusion, 1.28 +/- 0.33 pmol HNE.min-1.mg protein-1 were formed by the hearts of 18-mo-old Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats and 2.74 +/- 1.12 pmol.min-1.mg protein-1 by those of 18-mo-old spontaneously hypertensive (SHR) rats, respectively. In the WKY group, HNE release increased to 3.35 +/- 1.13 pmol.min-1.mg protein-1 2 min after the onset of reperfusion following 30 min of total and global ischemia compared with the preischemic control period (P < 0.05). In the SHR group, HNE liberation was higher during reperfusion (8.66 +/- 1.33 pmol.min-1.mg protein-1, maximum at 2 min reperfusion) compared with both the respective preischemic control and the respecti...