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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.)

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