Low-density lipoprotein is the major carrier of lipid hydroperoxides in plasma. Relevance to determination of total plasma lipid hydroperoxide concentrations.

High-density lipoprotein (HDL) has been proposed as the principal carrier of hydroperoxides in plasma, based upon data gathered with an HPLC-chemiluminescence technique. To test this hypothesis we have measured total lipid hydroperoxides in native plasma using the ferrous oxidation in Xylenol Orange (FOX) assay and then fractionated plasma into very-low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and HDL fractions. Hydroperoxides were found to accumulate principally (more than 65%) in LDL, as judged by hydroperoxide content per amount of protein or cholesterol, or expressed as a proportion of total hydroperoxide in plasma. Plasma was also incubated at 37 degrees C in the presence and absence of 2,2'-azo-bis-(2-amidinopropane) hydrochloride (AAPH), an azo-initiator of lipid peroxidation. The majority of hydroperoxides generated in plasma were recovered in the LDL fraction. Furthermore, when isolated lipoproteins were subject to oxidation initiated by AAPH, very-low-density lipoprotein and LDL showed the greatest propensity for hydroperoxide accumulation, whereas HDL seemed relatively resistant. Estimates for plasma and LDL peroxidation based upon techniques which measure total lipid hydroperoxides suggest that levels of hydroperoxides in plasma and LDL are far higher than that those estimates generated by ostensibly more selective techniques. Higher levels of hydroperoxides in LDL than those reported by HPLC-chemiluminescence also seem in greater accordance with other available data concerning LDL oxidation.