Comparative study of inorganic elements determined in whole blood from Dmd mdx /J mice strain by EDXRF and NAA analytical techniques M.M. Redígolo a , I.M. Sato a , S. Metairon b,n , C.B. Zamboni b a Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares, IPEN – CNEN/SP, Centro de Química e Meio Ambiente, CQMA, Av. Professor Lineu Prestes 2242, 05508-000 São Paulo, SP, Brasil b Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares, IPEN – CNEN/SP, Centro do Reator de Pesquisa - CRPq, Av. Professor Lineu Prestes 2242, 05508-000 São Paulo, SP, Brasil HIGHLIGHTS  The EDXRF technique using the Fundamental Parameters method showed to be adequate and viable for the determination of Ca, Cl, Fe, K, Mg, Na and S in whole blood samples.  EDXRF and NAA analysis showed agreement for all elements concentration investigated in mice (Dmd mdx /J and C57BL/6J strains) offering a new contribution for the Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD).  These analytic techniques are complementary and showed their applicability for biochemistry tests in blood, requiring small amount of samples, short time of analysis and simple sample preparation. article info Article history: Received 17 November 2015 Received in revised form 22 January 2016 Accepted 22 January 2016 Available online 23 January 2016 Keywords: Whole blood Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence Neutron Activation Analysis Animal model DMD abstract Several diseases can be diagnosed observing the variation of specific elements concentration in body fluids. In this study the concentration of inorganic elements in blood samples of dystrophic (Dmd mdx /J) and C57BL/6J (control group) mice strain were determined. The results obtained from Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence (EDXRF) were compared with Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) technique. Both analytical techniques showed to be appropriate and complementary offering a new contribution for veterinary medicine as well as detailed knowledge of this pathology. & 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Inorganic elements are of great importance in studies of clinical biochemistry, being responsible for several bodily functions. Any disturbance in their concentration can be related to diseases, such as calcemia, chloremia, natremia, etc. This work shows in details an investigation of inorganic ele- ments of clinical and nutritional relevance (Br, Ca, Cl, Fe, K, Mg, Na, and S) in whole blood of Dmd mdx /J dystrophic mice caused by Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), a progressive neuromus- cular disease. This disorder is caused by a genetic mutation on the humans X chromosome. Unlike of most genes, which come in pairs in both sexes and stay active throughout life, in males there is only one X chromosome, for these reason this disorder usually affected much more boys than girls (1/ 3500 boys (Bushby, 2010; Matsuo, 1995; Emery, 2002)). The symptoms beginning at the age of 5. The life expectancy has increase up to 20 years old (Goyenvalle et al., 2011). There is no cure for DMD and the treatment is aimed at control of symptoms (muscle weakness, premature death, and in- stability of the membrane that involves the muscle fibers-causing functional/structural abnormalities (Goyenvalle et al., 2011; Regence Medical Police Manual, 2015; Muntoni and Wells, 2007). Its main characteristic is the degeneration of the membrane that involves the muscular cell (sarcolemma), which leads to muscular necrosis and that is caused by absence of the dystrophin protein in muscles. This gene has 79 exons (largest of the human genome) forming the genetic code for the dystrophin protein. Duchenne patients have mutations in their DMD gene. The most common mutation is when one exon or more are missing from this gene (deletion). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apradiso Applied Radiation and Isotopes http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apradiso.2016.01.022 0969-8043/& 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. n Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: marcelo.redigolo@usp.br (M.M. Redígolo), imsato@ipen.br (I.M. Sato), metairon@live.com (S. Metairon), czamboni@ipen.br (C.B. Zamboni). Applied Radiation and Isotopes 110 (2016) 189–192