Neutron activation analysis: a powerful tool for determining elemental concentrations in blood serum

Alterations in elemental homeostasis have been associated with several pathological conditions, including Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD), which is associated with metabolic changes affecting multiple organs. Blood serum is an appropriate biological matrix for monitoring these alterations. Therefore, the elemental concentrations in serum from mice subjected to different dietary histories and voluntary ethanol exposure were determined by k 0 -INAA. This method is a multielemental analysis with high accuracy and the ability to analyze samples without chemical digestion, making it particularly suitable for biological investigations. The results were interpreted descriptively. Further studies are required to determine whether the observed elemental patterns are related to dietary history or ethanol exposure.