Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Applications
Résumé
This chapter reviews the current knowledge of important functions of selenium (Se) and selenoproteins in physiology and pathology in human. The outcome of the different clinical trials reveals the need for a better understanding of Se biology. The physiology of Se depends on its continuous supply to the body and its optimal distribution to tissues. The development and application of mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) techniques are of great interest in cancer research and diagnosis to study elemental distributions in biological tissue samples at microscopic level. The ability to record spatial accumulation of multiple analytes in tissue samples under native conditions and to directly correlate obtained images with histological features has made MSI an invaluable analytical tool. The chapter concentrates on literature about manganese (Mn) speciation targeting neurodegeneration effects, first, in human samples, such as serum or cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples, where some studies were summarized in 2007. It also presents a case study of Alzheimer's disease.