Applications of Mossbauer Spectroscopy in Biomedical Research

A brief review on the applications of Mossbauer spectroscopy in biomedical research discusses the results of more than fifty years of experience in this field. Basing on the numerous results the main directions of biomedical applications of Mossbauer spectroscopy are considered as follows: 1) studies of the quantitative changes of iron-containing biomolecules related to pathological processes; 2) studies of the qualitative changes in iron-containing biomolecules related to pathological processes; 3) studies of the effect of various environmental factors (physical, chemical, and biological) on iron-containing biomolecules; 4) studies of metabolic processes by means of analysis of the Mossbauer nuclides pathways in organisms; 5) studies of dynamic processes; 6) studies of pharmaceutical compounds and blood substitutes containing Mossbauer nuclides; 7) miscellaneous studies. Some examples of biomedical research using Fe-57, Co-57, Sn-119, Sm-153, and Au-197 Mossbauer nuclides are presented.