Study of Autofluorescence Spectra of Protoporphyrin IX in Human Serum

The fluorescence spectra of protoporphyrin IX (PPIX) solutions and human serum samples were measured and analyzed under physiological conditions. The experimental results showed that the fluorescence of PPIX in human serum was mainly derived from PPIX-serum albumin complex. Moreover, the effects of serum albumin and PPIX on the PPIX emission fluorescence were also investigated. Compared with pure PPIX solution, not only a red-shift of PPIX fluorescence peak was found for PPIX+albumin solution, but also albumin had a fluorescence enhancement effect on protoporphyrin IX. For the mixture of PPIX+albumin, with the increase of PPIX the wavelength of the PPIX emission peak will increased a little when its concentration was less than 0.8 x 10(-5) mol x L(-1), but was nearly invariable when its concentration was more than 0.8 x 10(-5) mol x L(-1).