Abstract

Vibrational spectroscopy is a powerful probe of molecular structure and its advantages for biomedical and biophysical research, with a special emphasis on proteins, lipids and nucleic acids, are widely recognized in the literature. It is well- known that infrared and Raman spectroscopic techniques are complementary for the structural analysis of any molecule. Although they differ in selection rules, both techniques are rapid, non-destructive and generally do not need special protocols for sample preparation. Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) microspectroscopy, in particular, allows for fast biochemical imaging of many biological tissues, however, the application of FTIR for the assessment of heart and kidney lesions induced by cardiovascular diseases has been poorly explored.

In this study, FTIR imaging was applied to analyze heart tissue from rats that underwent uninephrectomy surgery in order to identify spectroscopic markers that could be used to diagnose cardiac complications following the removal of a kidney.

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