Reaction of manganese-reconstituted prostaglandin endoperoxide synthase (Mn-PGHS) with 15-hydroperoxyeicosatetraenoic acid (15-HPETE) generates two products in nearly equal amounts: 15-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (15-HETE) and 15-ketoeicosatetraenoic acid (15-KETE) [Kulmacz et al. (1994) Biochemistry 33, 5428-5439]. Their proposed mechanism to explain 15-KETE formation, namely oxidation of 15-HETE by the peroxidase activity of MnPGHS, was tested and found not to occur. Instead, 15-KETE may arise by one-electron reduction of 15-HPETE followed by oxidation of an intermediate alkoxyl radical. The mechanism of hydroperoxide reduction by Mn-PGHS was investigated using 10-hydroperoxyoctadeca-8,12-dienoic acid (10-OOH-18:2), a diagnostic probe of hydroperoxide reduction pathways. Reaction of Mn-PGHS with 10-OOH-18:2 generated the two-electron reduced product, 10-hydroxyoctadeca-8,12-dienoic acid (10-OH-18:2), as well as the one-electron reduction products, 10-oxooctadeca-8,12 dienoic acid (10-oxo-18:2) and 10-oxodec-8-enoic acid (10-oxo-10:1) in relative yields of 82, 10, and 7%, respectively. The identity of the one-electron reduction products was confirmed by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. The detection of 10-oxo-10:1 provides strong evidence for the production of an alkoxyl radical during 10-OOH-18:2 reduction by Mn-PGHS. Like 15-HPETE, reaction of Mn-PGHS with 13-hydroperoxyoctadeca-8,12-dienoic acid (13-OOH-18:2) generated two products in equal amounts: 13-hydroxyoctadeca-8,12-dienoic acid (13-OH-18:2) and the keto fatty acid 13-oxooctadeca-8,12-dienoic acid (13-oxo-18:2). Comparison of the three hydroperoxides demonstrates that 15-HPETE is a much better substrate for Mn-PGHS than 10-OOH-18:2 or 13-OOH-18:2 with 10-fold greater turnovers. The results show that Mn-PGHS catalyzes both one- and two-electron hydroperoxide reduction and that the pathway of alkoxyl radical decomposition is influenced by the protein component of Mn-PGHS and the structure of the alkoxyl radical intermediate.