Biomedical Spectroscopy and Imaging - Volume 5, issue 1

Authors: Haris, Parvez I.

Article Type: Editorial

DOI: 10.3233/BSI-150131

Citation: Biomedical Spectroscopy and Imaging, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 1-4, 2016

Authors: Berliner, Lawrence J.

Article Type: Review Article

Abstract: Since the first EPR/ESR spectrum of a paramagnetic substance was published over 70 years ago, the technical improvements did not occur until after/during World War II with the advent of radar technology. The approaches to biomedical problems started somewhat later with the real burst of activity starting after the birth of the spin label technique about 50 years ago. The applications to proteins, then membranes and nucleic acids, and later applications to cells and eventually in-vivo on small animals and now humans has led EPR/ESR to finally being recognized as a uniquely powerful technique in the toolbox of techniques probing …macromolecules and their interactions, free radical biology and its eventual value as a diagnostic technique. This article gives an overview of EPR/ESR studies of biomedically related systems, including proteins and enzymes. It presents a very personal historical perspective, briefly reviews the origins of the technique and reflects on possible future directions. As with NMR, advances in molecular biology and technology drastically changed the nature and focus of the technique, particularly the site directed spin labeling method that has been invaluable in determining protein and macromolecular structure by both EPR and NMR. Show more

Keywords: Electron paramagnetic resonance, electron spin resonance, electron magnetic resonance, spin labeling, site directed spin labeling, free radicals

DOI: 10.3233/BSI-150128

Citation: Biomedical Spectroscopy and Imaging, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 5-26, 2016

Authors: Upadhyay, Deepti | Sharma, Uma | Makharia, Govind K. | Jagannathan, Naranamangalam R.

Article Type: Review Article

Abstract: Metabonomics study provides a comprehensive metabolic profile of biological samples using techniques like mass spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. The metabolites identified are later analysed using multivariate statistical methods. Metabonomics has the potential to provide putative biomarker/s for disease diagnosis and for monitoring the disease progression and can be used in patient management. Recently, a few metabonomics studies have been reported on blood sera, urine and intestinal mucosal biopsies of celiac disease (CeD) patients using proton NMR. Significantly decreased levels of amino acids, methylamine, lactate, lipids, pyruvate, creatinine, choline and glycoprotein and increased levels of glucose and β …-hydroxybutyrate have been reported in blood sera of CeD patients. In intestinal mucosal biopsies of CeD patients, a higher concentration of isoleucine, leucine, aspartate, succinate and pyruvate and lower concentration of glycerophosphocholine was seen as compared to controls. These studies indicates that the metabonomics study of CeD using in-vitro NMR spectroscopy helps in the determination of metabolic signature/s of the disease. It also provides an insight into the biochemistry of the disease and also helps in the identification of metabolites that could serve as putative biomarker/s for the diagnosis of CeD. This review focuses on the application of NMR based metabonomics in CeD and highlights the potential of NMR based metabonomics in the identification of biomarker/s for diagnosis and prognosis. Show more

Keywords: Metabonomics, in-vitro nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, celiac disease, body fluids, intestinal mucosal biopsies

DOI: 10.3233/BSI-150129

Citation: Biomedical Spectroscopy and Imaging, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 27-40, 2016

Authors: Momot, Konstantin I. | Bas, Onur | Holzapfel, Nina Pauline | Loessner, Daniela

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Background: Hydrogel-based cell cultures are excellent tools for studying physiological events occurring in the growth and proliferation of cells, including cancer cells. Diffusion magnetic resonance is a physical technique that has been widely used for the characterisation of biological systems as well as hydrogels. In this work, we applied diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to hydrogel-based cultures of human ovarian cancer cells. Methods: Diffusion-weighted spin-echo MRI measurements were used to obtain spatially-resolved maps of apparent diffusivities for hydrogel samples with different compositions, cell loads and drug (Taxol) treatment regimes. The samples were then characterised using their diffusivity histograms, …mean diffusivities and the respective standard deviations, and pairwise Mann–Whitney tests. The elastic moduli of the samples were determined using mechanical compression testing. Results: The mean apparent diffusivity of the hydrogels was sensitive to the polymer content, cell load and Taxol treatment. For a given sample composition, the mean apparent diffusivity and the elastic modulus of the hydrogels exhibited a negative correlation. Conclusions: Diffusivity of hydrogel-based cancer cell culture constructs is sensitive to both cell proliferation and Taxol treatment. This suggests that diffusion-weighted imaging is a promising technique for non-invasive monitoring of cancer cell growth in hydrogel-based, cellularly-sparse 3D cell cultures. The negative correlation between mean apparent diffusivity and elastic modulus suggests that the diffusion coefficient is indicative of the average density of the physical microenvironment within the hydrogel construct. Show more

Keywords: Diffusion imaging, magnetic resonance imaging, hydrogels, cancer cell cultures, Taxol

DOI: 10.3233/BSI-150130

Citation: Biomedical Spectroscopy and Imaging, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 41-54, 2016

Authors: Cicero, D.O. | Di Marino, S. | Dinallo, V. | Pieri, M. | Summa, V. | Desideri, A. | Bernardini, A. | Perondi, F. | D’Ottavio, S.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Background: The use of saliva for monitoring metabolic variations in physical exercise and in different sports gained ground in recent years. Several studies showed that saliva reflects biochemical changes useful for analytical purposes in clinical investigations and in physiological research. Objective: The aim of this study was to explore the profile of salivary metabolite changes due to a session of small sided games (SSG) in elite soccer players, searching for a correlation between metabolic changes and athlete performance as GPS-measured distances covered in the match. Methods: Ten under-20 elite soccer players participated to the study. The …game had an overall duration of 24 min and it consisted of 4 bouts of 6 min duration with 2 min passive recovery between exercise bouts. Saliva samples were collected before and after the game and physiological parameters evaluated, namely the distances covered by players and blood lactate. Samples were analyzed by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy. Orthogonal Projection of Latent-Structure (OPLS) was used to process the data. Results: Multivariate data analysis showed that the SSG session affected salivary metabolite levels in players. We observed no relationship between concentrations of hematic and salivary lactate, nor found any changes in the metabolic profiles that correlate with the blood lactate values. Among the identified metabolites, taurine was instead found to correlate with distances covered by players during the game. Conclusions: Altogether these results point to a potential use of saliva to follow metabolic changes during an athletic competition, and opens the possibility of using this non-invasive biofluid for the study of athlete training state and performance. Show more

Keywords: Small sided game, saliva, metabolome, salivary metabolites, soccer, NMR analysis

DOI: 10.3233/BSI-150132

Citation: Biomedical Spectroscopy and Imaging, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 55-70, 2016

Authors: Grootendorst, Diederik J. | Fratila, Raluca M. | Pouw, Joost | Ten Haken, Bennie | Van Wezel, Richard J.A. | Rottenberg, Sven | Steenbergen, Wiendelt | Manohar, Srirang | Ruers, Theo J.M.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Background and objectives: To determine prognosis and treatment, accurate nodal staging is essential in many tumor types. After injection of clinical grade superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO) nanoparticles, it has been shown that metastatic lymph nodes can be distinguished from benign specimens using MR imaging. However, MR does not benefit per-operative nodal staging which requires a non-ionizing, small volume, high resolution, fast imaging technique. In vivo non-invasive photoacoustic (PA) imaging of lymph nodes might facilitate nodal staging during surgery, thereby benefiting both surgeon and patient. Materials and methods: In order to investigate the feasibility of an in vivo …nodal staging approach using photoacoustics, six Mat-lylu inoculated Copenhagen rats were photo-acoustically imaged after injection of a new Class IIa medical device SPIO magnetic tracer (Sienna+). Lymph nodes were imaged in vivo , in toto (after euthanization) and ex vivo using multiple wavelength illumination. Results were compared with MRI, immunohistochemistry and photographs of the sectioned nodes. Results: These experiments demonstrate that in an ex vivo setting, the PA contrast of Sienna+ is able to facilitate a distinction between metastatic and benign nodes. A non-invasive distinction between both groups is partially impeded by the low amount of PA contrast generated by the SPIO particles compared to that of endogenous absorbers such as hemoglobins. Conclusions: This comparison between in vivo , in toto and ex vivo PA imaging of lymph nodes after SPIO injection demonstrates that the clinical potential of combined PA/SPIO staging should initially be exploited in an ex vivo setting. Improved distinction between chromophores by for example multi-spectral unmixing might in the near future enable non-invasive assessment of nodal involvement. Show more

Keywords: Photoacoustic, non-invasive, sentinel lymph nodes (SLN), SPIONS, in vivo and in toto, optoacoustic

DOI: 10.3233/BSI-150127

Citation: Biomedical Spectroscopy and Imaging, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 71-87, 2016

Authors: Wang, Lai-Hao | Lin, Yu-Ping | Lin, Yi-Chi

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: The nicotinic acid derivatives such as nicotinamide in cosmetic and pharmaceutical products were screened by fast and nondestructively method, attenuated total reflectance-infrared (ATR-IR) spectroscopy. The effects of sixteen essential oils creams (clove, cassia bark, geraniom, eucalyptus, thyme, nutmeg, coriander seed, damask, petitgrain, melissa, melaleuca alternifolia (tea tree), grape fruit, verbena wild, cinnamon, sandal wood, ginger) on the skin permeation of nicotinic acid were studied using human skin by ATR-IR infrared spectroscopy. We selected essential oils creams based on the characteristic region (1493, 1260, 1050 and 824 cm−1 ) for nicotinic acid which were not interfered by essential oils. Although …all essential oils creams enhanced the permeation of nicotinic acid, their effects were less than that of ethanol. Eucalyptus was found to be the most active, causing peak area decrease of C–H absorbances higher than the others. The effect of eucalyptus essential oil carriers on the release and percutaneous absorption of the nicotinic acid was studied in vitro using a permeation membrane model. Show more

Keywords: Screening nicotinamide, ATR-IR, essential oils formulations, permeation through membrane

DOI: 10.3233/BSI-150126

Citation: Biomedical Spectroscopy and Imaging, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 89-97, 2016