Figure 1  .

Comparisons of superoxide anion radicals in whole blood between one patient with AS and one healthy subject using the lucigenin enhanced ultraweak chemiluminescence method. 0.2 ml of heparinised blood was mixed with 0.1 ml of phosphate buffered saline (pH 7.4), N-formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (fMLP; 1 × 10⁻⁵ mol/l) or phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate (PMA; 10 µg/ml) at 37°C. Then, 1 ml lucigenin (0.01 mmol/l) was added 200 seconds later. The levels of superoxide anion radicals in one patient with AS and one healthy subject were assessed by the ultraweak chemiluminescence method. (1) AS + PMA; (2) AS + fMLP; (3) healthy subject + PMA; (4) healthy subject + fMLP; (5) AS only; (6) healthy subject only.