Native fluorescence of platelets from patients with occlusive arterial disease

Healthy platelets exhibit a fluorescence band with a peak at 475 nm if excited at 360 nm. This peak increases first with the progression of occlusive arterial disease (OAD) followed by a decrease at an advanced stage. Concomitantly, a new fluorescence band at 445 nm will appear, which increases steadily with the progression of OAD. These findings can be explained by the oxidation of NADH (fluorescence at 475 nm) to NAD (445 nm) and support, thus, the assumption that oxidative processes are involved in the formation of OAD.