Dr. J Raul Herance, Principal Investigator of the http://bit.ly/2xesrD2 Research Group in Molecular Medical Imaging at Vall d'Hebron Research Institute (VHIR) has led the development of a new methodology that allows to determine metabolites in different types of peripheral blood cells in a simple and reproducible way. This protocol could be used to monitor patients and assess the therapeutic potential and toxicity of treatments. To validate the technique, a study on the effect of treatments with gold nanoparticles has been made and has been published in the magazine http://bit.ly/2xgZzHZ PLOS One. This new methodology is based on the use of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) instead of mass spectrometry, which is the procedure used so far to determine the metabolites of different peripheral blood cells such as granulocytes, neutrophils, erythrocytes, among others. Mass spectrometry is a technique that destroys the sample and provides limited structural information of the metabolites, which complicates its characterization, while the new technique allows to reuse the sample for further analysis and also facilitates the structural determination of the metabolites. Thus, it is a fast procedure, of few hours, and which, with a reduced number of samples, allows to obtain conclusive results due to the multiplicity of analyses. "We have been pioneers in using NMR in blood cells, which until now had been used in fluids (plasma, urine and saliva). While the investigations try to obtain circulating biomarkers, we use NMR for the first time to search for biomarkers in different types of peripheral blood cells, a field with great potential," says Dr. Herance. These cells often mirror what is happening in the body as a result of a specific pathology. This study was carried out in collaboration with Dr. Martina Palomino-Schätzlein, of the http://www.cipf.es/ Príncipe Felipe Research Centre (Valencia) and has counted with the participation of professionals from other research centres in Spain. Cos Evaluation of gold nanoparticles in peripheral blood cells In this study, the potential of the technique has been validated to evaluate treatments in a study with gold nanoparticles, since nanomedicine is a discipline that has the need to have at its disposal techniques for facilitating its translation to the clinic, which is one of its main obstacles. The researchers looked at how various compounds of gold stabilized with different components affected peripheral blood cells differently. In particular, the compounds that were described as more toxic were the ones to eliciting more changes in metabolites and affecting much at a mitochondrial level, something that did not happen with the less toxic compounds, i.e. more biocompatible. Cos Future applications "Once the technique is validated we have used it to nanomedicine and we are carrying out studies on obesity, diabetes and other diseases and the results are very promising," advances Dr. Herance.