Trends in the Evaluation of Lipid Peroxidation Processes

Oxidative stress occurs as a result of imbalance between the antioxidant and prooxidant systems acting at certain points in metabolic processes, in favor of the last. The oxidative stress, defined by H Sies following extensive research performed between 1981 and 1993, is the outcome of intense generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which are not counteracted by endogenous antioxidant molecules [Sies, 1985]. Current knowledge links many types of pathologies to oxidative damage; among them, most cited are atherosclerosis, diabetes mellitus, neurodegenerative disorders, cancers, rheumatic diseases, autoimmune disorders, etc. Figure 1, sometimes referred to as “oxidative stress wheel”, presents the most important diseases in which oxidative stress is involved resulting in biochemical lessions