Applications of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy in pharmacy

The role of nuclear magnetic resonance in evaluating the effects of drugs in vivo is reviewed. The use of NMR to monitor cellular events occurring during myocardial ischemia and to evaluate the role of drugs in protecting the heart during ischemia is discussed. The advent of surface coils has allowed NMR studies of intact live animals. Such coils have been used to evaluate the effects of chemotherapy on tumor tissue in rats and hamsters. The results show NMR was able to detect the effects of drugs shortly after treatment (well before traditional techniques). The usefulness of fluorine 19 as a probe in biological systems is outlined and the application of fluorine 19 NMR to an examination of anesthetic action is described. Besides yielding information about the sites of binding of fluorinated anesthetics and hence contributing to our understanding of their mode of action, 19F NMR promises a direct clinical application as a tool for monitoring the rate of loss of anesthetic from the brain. 6 refs., 6 figs