Sign Up for a Free Account

This is an image preview.
Start a Free Account
to view the full image.

Sign Up for a Free Account For information on discounts, see Plans & Pricing

  • Nearly 3,000 illustrations, including video clips of neurologic disorders.

  • Every article is reviewed by our esteemed Editorial Board for accuracy and currency.

  • Full spectrum of neurology in 1,200 comprehensive articles.

  • Listen to MedLink on the go with Audio versions of each article.

Lipid peroxidation

Lipid peroxidation is an oxidative degradation of lipids in which free radicals (eg, the hydroxyl radical, OH) "steal" electrons from the lipids in cell membranes in a chain-reaction mechanism, causing cellular damage. This process most often affects polyunsaturated fatty acids, because they contain multiple double bonds in between which lie methylene bridges (-CH2-) that possess especially reactive hydrogen atoms. The chemical products of this oxidation are lipid peroxides or lipid oxidation products (LOPs). (Image by Tom Vickers 2007 after: Young IS, McEneny J. Lipoprotein oxidation and atherosclerosis. Biochem Soc Trans 2001;29 (Pt 2):358-62. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.)

Related Article

Related Media

Associated Disorders

  • Acute alcohol withdrawal
  • Acute renal failure
  • Alcoholic cardiomyopathy
  • Alcoholic peripheral neuropathy
  • Crush syndrome
  • Delirium tremens
  • Fetal alcohol myopathy
  • Hepatic cirrhosis
  • Hyperkalemia
  • Nutritional deficiency