| Abstract: | Folic acid oxidase from erythrocytes oxidatively cleaves folic acid at the C-9-N-10 bond to yield pterin-6-aldehyde and p-aminobenzoyl glutamic acid, with the concomitant generation of singlet oxygen. The emission from singlet oxygen is proportional to the enzyme activity. DABCO was used as a singlet oxygen emission enhancer to increase the sensitivity of the measurement. In general, pregnant women show high enzymatic activity, but the emission is strongly quenched by DABCO. This is contrary to normal and cancer cases in which an increase in the emission was observed. This effect is larger in cancer cases. These results are presented as a potential method for detecting physiological and pathological human conditions. |
