Unhealthy diets, such as those high in saturated fat and sugar accelerate the development of non-communicable diseases. The metabolic syndrome is a conglomeration of disorders such as abdominal obesity, hypertension, impaired glucose regulation and dyslipidemia, which increases the risk for diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The prevalence of the metabolic syndrome is increasing globally, and dietary interventions may help to reverse this trend. A good understanding of its pathophysiological mechanisms is needed for the proper design of such interventions. This chapter discusses how lipid peroxidation is associated with the development of this syndrome, mainly through the formation of bioactive aldehydes, such as 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal, malondialdehyde, acrolein and glyoxal, which modify biomolecules to induce cellular dysfunction, including the enhancement of oxidative stress and inflammatory signaling. It gives a current understanding of the mechanisms of formation of these aldehydes and how dietary components such as saturated fatty acids promote oxidative stress, leading to lipid oxidation. It also outlines mechanisms, apart from free radical scavenging and singlet oxygen quenching, by which various dietary constituents prevent oxidative stress and lipid oxidation in vivo.
Roles of the lipid peroxidation product 4-hydroxynonenal in obesity, the metabolic syndrome, and associated vascular and neurodegenerative disorders