[Lipoperoxides and their clinical importance]

Research and investigations in the sphere of lipid peroxides has been pursued so far for a relatively short time. Therefore every new finding is a great asset for this branch of medicine. An elevated lipid peroxide level signalizes pathological changes in the organism. Malondialdehyde is an indicator of lipid peroxidation. The authors focused their experimental work on assessment of malondialdehyde in human serum. They tested the effect of increased radical peroxidation caused by diabetes and investigated whether it raises the lipid peroxide level in a group of patients suffering from ischaemic heart disease.

Two groups were formed--one comprising 10 patients with ischaemic heart disease and another one of 8 patients with ischaemic heart disease and type II diabetes. The malondialdehyde concentrations were moreover compared with a control group of healthy subjects. The mean age of the first group was 72 years, of the second group 69 years. The mean age of the control group was 64 years. Lipid peroxidation was assessed from the concentration of malondialdehyde using an analytical method--spectrophotometry with fluorescence detection.

Statistical evaluation of lipid peroxide levels in the two groups of patients with ischaemic heart disease led to the conclusion that the differences were not significant. Type II diabetes did not cause a greater increase of lipid peroxides in patients with IHD.