Lipid peroxidation and the thiobarbituric acid assay: Standardization of the assay when using saturated and unsaturated fatty acids

Abstract

Saturated fatty acids are less vulnerable to lipid peroxidation than their unsaturated counterparts. In this investigation, individual fatty acids of the C16, C18 and C20 families were subjected to the thiobarbituric (TBA) assay. These fatty acids were chosen based on their degree of saturation and configuration of double bonds. Interestingly, an assay threshold was reached where increasing the fatty acid concentration resulted in no additional decrease in the TBARS concentrations. Therefore, the linear range of TBARS inhibition was determined for fatty acids in the C16 and C20 families. The rate of TBARS inhibition was greater for the saturated than for unsaturated fatty acids, as measured from the slope of the linear range. These findings demonstrate the need to standardize the TBARS assay using multiple fatty acid concentrations when using this assay for measuring in vitro lipid peroxidation.