Magnetometric method for the determination of extremely low concentrations of iron in biological materials

Investigators: M. Škrátek, A. Dvurečenskij, A. Cigáň, J. Maňka

Biogenic iron is found in all biological systems. Recently, ultra-small superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles have also been used in biomedicine, which, as drug carriers, enable targeted dosing by the action of a magnetic field. The stability of these nanoparticles depends on the cellular environment (chemical composition, pH, etc.). Their degradation can cause iron overload, which causes inflammatory processes in cells, disruption of iron metabolism, oxidative stress and other negative factors. In our research, in cooperation with the Institute of Normal and Pathological Physiology of the Center for Experimental Medicine of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, we focused on determining the iron content originating in these nanoparticles and distinguishing it from naturally present iron in tissues and fluids based on different blocking temperatures. A method has been developed to determine the iron content of rat tissues after application of a small dose of a dispersion of nanoparticles in saline. We have shown that using SQUID (Superconducting Quantum Interference Device) magnetometry, an extremely small amount of nanoparticulate iron that cannot be detected by the traditional Pearl histochemical method can be identified and distinguished from biogenic iron. The benefit of the result for the measuring technique is the design of the methodology and the set of experiments for measuring extremely weak magnetic signals from biological samples.

 

Related projects: VEGA 2/0164/17, APVV-16-0263 and VEGA 2/0160/17.

 

The result was achieved in cooperation with the Institute of Normal and Pathological Physiology of the Center for Experimental Medicine of the Slovak Academy of Sciences.

 

Publications:

• ŠKRÁTEK, Martin – DVUREČENSKIJ, Andrej – KLUKNAVSKÝ, M. – BARTA, A. – BALIŠ, P. – MIČUROVÁ, A. – CIGÁŇ, Alexander – ECKSTEIN-ANDICSOVÁ, A. – MAŇKA, Ján –  BERNÁTOVÁ, I. Sensitive SQUID bio-magnetometry  for determination and differentiation of biogenic iron and iron oxide nanoparticles in the biological samples. In Nanomaterials, 2020, vol. 10, no. 10, p. 1993. ISSN 2079-4991. (4.324-IF2019). Q1. CCC.
•  KLUKNAVSKÝ, Michal – BALIŠ, Peter – ŠKRÁTEK, Martin – MAŇKA, Ján – BERNÁTOVÁ, Iveta**. (–)-Epicatechin reduces the blood pressure of young borderline hypertensive rats during the post-treatment period. In Antioxidants, 2020, vol. 9, no. 2, article no. 96. (2019: 5.014 – IF, Q1 – JCR, 1.100 – SJR, Q1 – SJR). ISSN 2076-3921. Typ: ADMA.
•  LÍŠKOVÁ, S. – BALIŠ, P. – MIČUROVÁ, A. – KLUKNAVSKÝ, M. – OKULIAROVÁ, M. – PUZSEROVÁ, A. – ŠKRÁTEK, Martin – SEKAJ, I. – MAŇKA, Ján – VALOVIČ, P. – BERNÁTOVÁ, I. Effect of iron oxide nanoparticles on vascular function and nitric oxide production in acute stress-exposed rats. In Physiological Research, 2020. ISSN 0862-8408. (1.655-IF2019). Q2 (v tlači: http://www.biomed.cas.cz/physiolres/pdf/prepress/934567.pdf). CCC.