Levuglandins are reactive aldehyde

Aldehyde

An aldehyde is an organic compound containing a formyl group. This functional group, with the structure R-CHO, consists of a carbonyl center bonded to hydrogen and an R group....

s formed by the spontaneous rearrangement of prostaglandin H

Prostaglandin

A prostaglandin is any member of a group of lipid compounds that are derived enzymatically from fatty acids and have important functions in the animal body. Every prostaglandin contains 20 carbon atoms, including a 5-carbon ring....

 (PGH). Enantiomerically pure levuglandin (LG) E₂ can also be formed through the cyclooxygenase (COX) pathway by a rearrangement of the prostaglandin (PG) endoperoxide PGH ₂. They are nonclassic eicosanoid

Nonclassic eicosanoid

Nonclassic eicosanoids are biologically active signaling molecules made by oxygenation of twenty-carbon fatty acids other than the classic eicosanoids.-Terminology:"Eicosanoid" is the collective...

s. One species, levuglandin E₂, (LGE₂), forms neurotoxic adduct

Adduct

An adduct is a product of a direct addition of two or more distinct molecules, resulting in a single reaction product containing all atoms of all components. The resultant is considered a distinct molecular species...

s with
amyloid beta

Amyloid beta

Amyloid beta is a peptide of 36–43 amino acids that is processed from the Amyloid precursor protein. While it is most commonly known in association with Alzheimer's disease, it does not exist specifically to cause disease...

.
Levuglandins and isolevuglandins can damage proteins by covalent adduction, thereby interfering with their normal functions.
These lipid-derived protein modifications may serve as dosimeters of oxidative injury.
Elevated plasma levels of isoLG-protein epitopes are associated with atherosclerosis but are independent of total cholesterol, a classical risk factor.

History

Though spontaneous rearrangements of PGH2 are known to generate prostaglandins (PG) PGD2 and PGE2. Prof. Robert Salomon at Case Western Reserve University discovered that a novel alternative rearrangement also occurs that producing two γ-ketoaldehydes and named them levuglandins LGD2 and LGE2 as they are derivatives of levulinaldehyde with prostanoid side chains.