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To assess the role and responses of lipoperoxide and superoxide dismutase in hypertensive disease, the serum and erythrocyte lipid peroxide and erythrocyte superoxide dismutase levels were measured in 65 normal persons and hypertensive patients. The results are summerized as follows: In normal persons, serum and erythrocyte lipoperoxide values showed an increase according to age, but the elevation was not statistically significant. In normal persons, the erythrocyte superoxide dismutase value did not change according to age. In hypertensive patients, the serum and erythrocyte lipoperoxide values showed increases of 10.8% and 26% respectively compared to those of the controls. In hypertensive patients, the erythrocyte superoxide dismutase value showed a decrease of 29.9% compared to that of the controls. Keywords: Lipoperoxides, Superoxide dismutase, Normal person, Hypertensive patients INTRODUCTION Glavid1) reported that lipoperoxide produced in vivo is related to atherosclerosis. We proposed to examine the relationship between the concentration of serum and tissue lipoperoxide with damage to tissue. Recently, it has been noticed that lipoperoxide induces various disease including atherosclerosis.2–5) These lipoperoxides are produced by a chain reaction between superoxide radicals and unsaturated fatty acids. Lipoperoxide inhibits production of prostaglandin l2 in vascular endothelium and causes cell membrane degeneration in smooth muscle cells by polymerization with protein. It is these actions that are thought to be the mechanism behind the development of atherosclerosis. We investigated the difference between serum and R.B.C. lipoperoxide and the degree of activation of superoxide dismutase in 38 normal controls who had no evidence of atherosclerosis, either symptomatically or by investigation, and 27 hypertensive patients admitted to the Dept. of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, Chosun University. We report our experimental results with a review of the literature.