BACKGROUND: One of the well-defined and characterized protein modifications usually produced by oxidation is carbonylation, an irreversible non-enzymatic modification of proteins. However, carbonyl groups can be introduced into proteins by non-oxidative mechanisms. Reactive carbonyl compounds have been observed to have increased in patients with renal failure. In the present work we have described a procedure designed as aldehyde capture to calculate the protein carbonyl stress derived solely from lipid peroxidation. METHODS: Acrolein-albumin adduct was prepared as standard at alkaline pH. Rat liver microsomal membranes and serum samples from patients with diabetic nephropathy were subjected to the aldehyde capture procedure and aldol-protein formation. Before alkalinization and incubation, samples were precipitated and redisolved in 6M guanidine. The absorbances of the samples were read with a spectrophotometer at 266 nm against a blank of guanidine. RESULTS: Evidence showed abundance of unsaturated aldehydes derived from lipid peroxidation in rat liver microsomal membranes and in the serum of diabetic patients with advanced chronic kidney disease. Carbonyl protein and aldol-proteins resulted higher in the diabetic nephropathy patients (p < 0.004 and p < 0.0001 respectively). CONCLUSION: The aldehyde-protein adduct represents a non oxidative component of carbonyl stress, independent of the direct amino acid oxidation and could constitute a practical and novelty strategy to measure the carbonyl stress derived solely from lipid peroxidation and particularly in diabetic nephropathy patients. In addition, we are in a position to propose an alternative explanation of why alkalinization of urine attenuates rhabdomyolysis-induced renal dysfunction.