Malondialdehyde Analysis in Biological Samples by Capillary Electrophoresis: The State of Art

Lipid peroxidation occurs when substances, such as reactive oxygen species, attack lipids. Polyunsaturated fatty acids are the main targets. Several products are formed, including primary products such as lipid hydroperoxides and secondary products such as malondialdehyde (MDA), the most used lipid peroxidation biomarker. As MDA levels are elevated in several diseases, MDA is an essential indicator for assessing pathological states. The thiobarbituric acid reactive substances assay is the most widely used method for MDA determination. However, it lacks specificity. Capillary Electrophoresis (CE) is a separation technique that has been used to quantify MDA in biological samples. This technique has advantages such as the low amount of biological sample required, absence or low volume of organic solvent, short analysis time, separation of interferents, sample preparation step with only protein precipitation, and the possibility of direct detection of the MDA, without derivatization. To our knowledge, this review article is the first to show the CE background for analyzing MDA in biological samples. Therefore, given the potential of MDA in evaluating pathological states, this article demonstrates the potential of CE to become a reference method for MDA determination in clinical analysis laboratories, which will play a significant role in diagnosing and monitoring diseases.