Iron determination in whole blood samples of dystrophic mouse strains using X-Ray fluorescence spectrometry

Abstract

Several diseases can be monitored by assessing the variation of specific ion concentration in body fluids. This study proposes an alternative analysis, based on the X-ray fluorescence spectrometry technique, for the investigation of iron (Fe concentration determination) in whole blood of the dystrophic animal models. We performed blood analyses from three different strains with Muscular Dystrophy (Dmdmdx/ J, SJL/J and A/J) and from healthy (C57BL/6J) mice strain adopted as the control group. The results emphasize that iron levels in whole blood male samples of SJL/J and A/J are significantly higher. Related to the gender for Dmdmdx/J and SJL/J mouse strains the comparison emphasizes that iron level increase for males. The study of Fe behavior in whole blood mice samples with muscular dystrophy contributes to its diagnosis, providing a better understanding of this disease.