title: Neuroscience and accelerator mass spectrometry.
abstract: Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) is a mass spectrometric method for quantifying rare isotopes. It has had a great impact in geochronology and archaeology and is now being applied in biomedicine. AMS measures radioisotopes such as 3H, 14C, 26Al, 36Cl and 41Ca, with zepto- or attomole sensitivity and high precision and throughput, allowing safe human pharmacokinetic studies involving microgram doses, agents having low bioavailability or toxicology studies where administered doses must be kept low (<1 microg kg(-1)). It is used to study long-term pharmacokinetics, to identify biomolecular interactions, to determine chronic and low-dose effects or molecular targets of neurotoxic substances, to quantify transport across the blood-brain barrier and to resolve molecular turnover rates in the human brain on the time-scale of decades. We review here how AMS is applied in neurotoxicology and neuroscience.
authors.affiliation: Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94551, USA.
authors.forename: Magnus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Palmblad
authors.forename: Bruce A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Buchholz
authors.forename: Darren J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Hillegonds
authors.forename: John S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Vogel
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000209:etiology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D000818:Animals; D001812:Blood-Brain Barrier / Q000378:metabolism; D001923:Brain Chemistry; D002250:Carbon Radioisotopes / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D007306:Insecticides / Q000032:analysis / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D007531:Isoflurophate; D007553:Isotope Labeling; D013058:Mass Spectrometry / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D009488:Neurosciences; D010315:Particle Accelerators
chemical_list: D002250:Carbon Radioisotopes; D007306:Insecticides; D007531:Isoflurophate