A spectrophotometric assay for lipid peroxides in serum lipoproteins using a commercially available reagent.

A method is described for measuring lipid peroxides by means of the color reagent of a commercially available test kit for cholesterol estimation. In principle, this assay makes use of the oxidative capacity of lipid peroxides to convert iodide to iodine, which can be measured photometrically at 365 nm. Calibration curves were obtained using peroxides such as H2O2, t-butyl hydroperoxide, and cumene hydroperoxide. A stoichiometric relationship was observed between the amount of organic peroxides assayed and the concentration of iodine produced. Concentrations of lipid peroxides as small as 1 nmol/ml could be measured. The ability to estimate lipid peroxides of isolated low density lipoprotein was demonstrated.