Inhibition of superoxide dismutase, Vitamin C and glutathione on chemiluminescence produced by luminol and the mixture of sulfite and bisulfite

In a system which consisted of luminol (3-aminophthalhydrazide), cobalt sulfate (CoSO4), alkaline buffer and the mixture of NaSO3 and sodium bisulfite (NaHSO3) (sulfite and bisulfite = 3:1, m/m), a strong chemiluminescence (CL) was observed using a BPCL ultra-weak luminometer. The CL signals resulted from 3-aminophthalate (the product of oxidized luminol), and were affected by the buffer pH, buffer medium and the concentrations of luminol, CoSO4 and the NaSO3–NaHSO3 mixture. The observation that the CL intensities were inhibited by superoxide dismutase (SOD), Vitamin C (Vc) and glutathione (GSH) in a dose-dependent manner suggested that superoxide radical (O2−) was involved in the CL reaction and responsible for oxidation of luminol.