Ibuprofen protects lipoproteins against oxidation

The oxidation of lipoproteins is believed to be one mechanism by which LDL-cholesterol becomes atherogenic. Ibuprofen has long been known to inhibit this process ( Life Sci 1999;65:2289-303 ) and now, a Chinese team has used nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy to study more closely the interaction between ibuprofen and lipoprotein particles in human plasma (Anal Biochem 2004;324:292-7 ).

They found that ibuprofen interacts with phospholipids in the lipoprotein particle (to be precise, at the N + (CH 3 ) 3 functional group of phosphatidylcholine and sphingomyelin, and on olefinic chains and ethyl and methyl groups of the unsaturated lipid component). Whether this is a direct interaction or due to a structural change in the lipoprotein remains unclear, but the result seems to protect plasma lipids against oxidation and confirms that ibuprofen may have anti-atherosclerotic properties.

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