title: Qualitative and quantitative mass spectrometry imaging of drugs and metabolites in tissue at therapeutic levels.
abstract: Mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) is a rapidly evolving technology that yields qualitative and quantitative distribution maps of small pharmaceutical-active molecules and their metabolites in tissue sections in situ. The simplicity, high sensitivity and ability to provide comprehensive spatial distribution maps of different classes of biomolecules make MSI a valuable tool to complement histopathology for diagnostics and biomarker discovery. In this review, qualitative and quantitative MSI of drugs and metabolites in tissue at therapeutic levels are discussed and the impact of this technique in drug discovery and clinical research is highlighted.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Pathology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Na
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Axel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Walch
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D035843:Biomedical Research; D055808:Drug Discovery; D006801:Humans; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism*; D014018:Tissue Distribution
chemical_list: D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations