The effects of starvation and cold restraint stress on lipid peroxidation, susceptibility of VLDL plus LDL to autooxidation and lipid levels in the plasma of rats

Abstract

The effects of starvation and cold-restraint stress on lipid peroxidation, lipid levels and on susceptibility of VLDL+LDL fractions to autooxidation were investigated in the plasma of rats. The content of protein carbonyl groups was also measured after starvation and cold-restraint stress. The susceptibility of VLDL+LDL to autooxidation, the content of protein carbonyl groups, total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol levels remained unchanged but triglyceride and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) levels were found increased after 48 h of starvation. There were significant increases in the susceptibility of VLDL+LDL to autooxidation and TEARS levels in cold-restraint stress group when compared with values obtained from starvation group. In addition, cold-restraint stress elevated total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol and reduced HDL-cholesterol but did not change triglyceride levels as compared with starvation group. Our results suggest that stress inducing lipid peroxidation may contribute to the initiation and/or progression of atherosclerosis.