A new procedure to stabilize thiols and disulfides in different blood fractions for months is proposed.
N-Ethylmaleimide was used to stabilize thiols in whole blood, RBCs, platelets and disulfides in plasma.
Addition of citrate buffer followed by dilution with H2O was used to stabilize plasma thiols.
The concentration of thiols and disulfides resulted to be stable for 6 months in stored samples.
Only 3 ml of blood were needed to measure thiols and disulfides in the different blood fractions.