Background. Over the past decades metabolic profiling has become a valuable tool for the investigation of metabolic changes specific to particular diseases. As this concept considers participants of several metabolic networks and processes within one analyt- ical step, it has been considered suitable for the investigation of cellular mechanisms underlying brain diseases whose pathological backgrounds are assumed to be inher- ently complex. One main technical platform of metabolic profiling is based on in vitro nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy: a technique that is also available for the non-invasive application in vivo. Hence, it provides a promising mean for the translation from in vitro research to the eventual clinical use. Aim. The studies presented in this thesis applied in vitro NMR spectroscopy based metabolic profiling to extracts of cerebral tissue samples of rodent models of mental and neurodegenerative disorders to evaluate its ability as search tool for biomarkers in these conditions. Method Validation. To verify the comparability between the performance of the in vitro and in vivo application of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, tissue ex- traction methods were firstly tested for metabolic content, precision and suitability for metabolic profiling studies. Secondly, the in vitro results of the study of socially isolated rats were compared to in vivo results of the same model. This study demonstrated that the two modalities produced similar outcomes with respect to the (patho)physiological research questions.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:555385 |
| Date | January 2011 |
| Creators | Geißler, Philippine Camilla |
| Publisher | University of Nottingham |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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