Application of postmortem lipid peroxidation in heart tissue to the diagnosis of myocardial damage

The response by the myocardial tissue to injury may be manifested as macroscopical or microscopical lesions or, following an ischemia-reperfusion process, by the formation of reactive oxidant substances (ROS) which, in turn, may increase lipid peroxidation levels in myocardial tissue. The aim of this study was to determine whether the levels of lipid peroxidation in myocardial tissue from subjects who had died from different causes are related to cardiac lesions of ischemic or traumatic aetiology. We studied 825 hypostasis-free samples taken from the myocardial tissue of 75 cadavers. In all cases, a survival period was known to have existed. Lipid peroxidation in myocardial tissue was estimated by the colorimetric determination of malondialdehyde. The highest levels of tissue peroxidation were observed in the group of subjects who died from myocardial infarction. We observed a statistically significant correlation between the extent of peroxidation and the presence of myocardial damage of ischemic or traumatic aetiology. In our study, lipid peroxidation was associated with myocardial injury. The data suggest that the extent of lipid peroxidation in myocardial tissue may be used as a reliable indicator of myocardial damage in support of data obtained by conventional microscopy.