Nonenzymatic glycosylation of human serum albumin: Fluorescence and chemiluminescence behavior.

In the present study the progress of the cross-linking reaction between glyceraldehyde (GCA) and human serum albumin (HSA) was followed by monitoring the development of new absorption bands characteristic of the cross-linked product. Generation of electronically excited species (EES) during horseradish peroxidase (HRP)-catalyzed oxidation of glycosylated HSA was followed by measuring direct chemiluminescence. It was found that adducts of HSA with GCA in the presence of HRP are capable of forming EES. The mechanism of EES generation is discussed further on the basis of fluorescence and chemiluminescence measurements. Formation of EES in studied systems thus could be a possible source of free radicals generatedin vivo during age- and diabetes-related complications.