*2.2. Blood Collection*

A total of 10 mL of venous blood samples were collected in ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) tubes. The blood was then centrifuged 1500× *g* at 4 ◦C for 10 min. The acquired plasma was placed in Eppendorf tubes. The obtained erythrocyte mass was centrifuged three times in cold saline (0.9% NaCl) and then underwent osmotic lysis by adding a cold phosphate buffer (1:9, 50 mM, pH 7.4). In order to prevent sample oxidation and proteolysis, 10 μL 0.5 M BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene, BHT, Sigma-Aldrich, Germany) in acetonitrile was added per 1 mL of plasma and erythrocytes, and stored at −80 ◦C until assayed, but not for longer than 6 months.

Clinical details of patients and control subjects are presented in Table 1.
