Table 2.

Autofluorescence decay data analysis by the FLIMfit software tool⁷⁴ glycated and unreacted control collagen before and after quenching with triiodide.

	Collagen	Collagen + I3−	Glycated collagen	Glycated collagen + I3−
Mean τ/ns	1.99 ± 0.10	0.26 ± 0.06	1.09 ± 0.04	0.86 ± 0.04
τ1/ns	5.41 ± 0.22	3.59 ± 2.92*	3.37 ± 0.25	3.7 ± 0.27
τ2/ps	670 ± 30	240 ± 15	510 ± 35	440 ± 25
β1	0.28 ± 0.01	0.01 ± 0.01	0.20 ± 0.02	0.13 ± 0.02
β2	0.72 ± 0.01	0.99 ± 0.01	0.80 ± 0.02	0.87 ± 0.02

Pre-exponential coefficients (β₁ and β₂) and fluorescence lifetime values (τ₁ and τ₂) are described by the decay law $f\left(t\right)={\sum }_{i=1}^n{\beta }_i{e}^{(-t/{\tau }_i)}$. Data is presented as mean of 6–9 independent samples ± SD. Differences between τ₁, τ₂, β₁, β₂ and mean τ were found statistically significant in paired t-test for each of the four experimental conditions (except *). See also Fig. S3.