Enhanced Peroxidation of Proteins of the Erythrocyte Membrane and of Muscle Tissue by Dietary Oxidized Oil

Male weanling rats were fed on diets containing 10% of either oxidized or fresh (control) soybean oil for periods of 4 and 7 weeks. The ingestion of oxidized oil was found to reduce the content of free thiols in the erythrocyte membrane and to increase the amount of membrane-extractable spectrin. The level of reactive carbonyl groups was higher in the proteins of the ghosts and of the muscle tissue derived from the experimental animals. These alterations which are characteristic of peroxidized proteins, suggest that oxidative stress caused by oxidized dietary lipids may damage tissue proteins.