In total, 30 healthy individuals were included in the study. Exclusion criteria were known inflammatory conditions such as asthma, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or tuberculosis, and risk factors associated with metabolic syndrome, smoking, and, if female, being on contraceptive or hormone replacement treatment. Full iron tests were performed, as high serum ferritin and low transferrin levels are acute phase inflammatory protein markers  and indicative of inflammation. We included controls only if their iron levels were within normal ranges. WB of the participants was obtained in citrate tubes and either WB or platelet-poor plasma was used in this study for TEG, confocal and SEM experiments.