These and other considerations from the extensive literature on MDA, TBA reactivity, and oxidative lipid degradation support the conclusion that MDA determination and the TBA test can offer, at best, a narrow and somewhat empirical window on the complex process of lipid peroxidation. Use of MDA analysis and/or the TBA test and interpretation of sample MDA content and TBA test response in studies of lipid peroxidation require caution, discretion, and (especially in biological systems) correlative data from other indices of fatty peroxide formation and decomposition.
The extensive research on MDA, TBA reactivity, and oxidative lipid degradation substantiates the conclusion that MDA measurement and the TBA test offer a restricted and somewhat conjectural perspective on lipid peroxidation. The use of MDA analysis and/or the TBA test in conjunction with careful interpretation of sample results requires caution, discernment, and (particularly in biological contexts) complementary data from other fatty peroxide formation and decomposition indicators.