Oxidized phospholipid (OxPL)

Oxidized phospholipids are phospholipids whose polyunsaturated fatty acid chains have undergone oxidative modification through enzymatic or nonenzymatic processes during oxidative stress. This results in structurally diverse products including truncated acyl chains, hydroperoxides, aldehydes, carboxylic acids, and adducts with proteins. These molecules lose some membrane-stabilizing properties but gain new biological activities—they can act as danger-associated molecular patterns recognized by innate immune receptors such as scavenger receptors and TLR4 accessory proteins. They play dual roles in health and disease: promoting inflammation in conditions like atherosclerosis while also modulating immune responses against infection or tissue damage. Their accumulation is associated with unstable plaques in cardiovascular disease; they serve both as biomarkers for vascular pathology and potential therapeutic targets for inflammatory diseases[1][2][3][5].

Other names

oxidised phospholipidOxPLoxygenated phospholipidoxidatively modified phospholipidtruncated oxidized phospholipid

Experimental drugs or antibodies targeting oxidized phospholipids act by neutralizing their pro-inflammatory effects or blocking their interaction with pattern recognition receptors such as Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), scavenger receptors, or C-reactive protein[3][1].