Elsevier

Thermochimica Acta

Volume 172, 1 December 1990, Pages 53-60
Thermochimica Acta

Application of microcalorimetry to the study of living cells in the medical field

https://doi.org/10.1016/0040-6031(90)80558-GGet rights and content

Abstract

In the last 20 years we have applied microcalorimetry to the study of metabolism in living cells with the purpose of obtaining useful information in the medical field. Both cell suspensions and pieces of tissues have been used. Cell metabolism, as recorded by heat production rate, has been found to reflect the activity of the disease in several pathological conditions: thyroid dysfunctions, acromegaly, acute leukaemia, peripheral arterial disease. In non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a heterogenous group of tumors with variable degree of malignancy, high heat production rate in tumor cells and lymhocytes was associated with a poor prognosis. Microcalorimetry appears to be a useful methodology in the medical field.

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