Further evidence of lipid peroxidation in post-enteropathic haemolytic-uraemic syndrome

Lipid peroxidation may play a role in the pathogenesis of the haemolytic-uraemic syndrome (HUS). Thirteen children with the post-enteropathic form of HUS were studied using conjugated diene lipids as markers of in vivo lipid peroxidation. Levels of total conjugated diene lipids and 9,11-linoleic acid, the principal conjugated diene in human plasma, were greater in the acute phase of this disorder than in controls. The ratio of plasma vitamin E to lipid was lower than that in children with other renal diseases, and the expected positive correlation between vitamin E and lipids did not hold for HUS patients. These data provide further evidence of lipid peroxidation in HUS and a disturbance in the metabolism of the principal lipid-bound anti-oxidant vitamin E.