The brain is the most advanced organ with various complex structural and functional microregions. It is often challenging to understand what and where the molecular events would occur for a given drug treatment in the brain.

The authors of this article propose a temporo-spatial pharmacometabolomics method based on ambient mass spectrometry imaging and applied it to evaluate the microregional effect of olanzapine (OLZ) on brain tissue and demonstrate its effectiveness in characterizing the microregional pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of OLZ for improved understanding of the molecular mechanism of drugs acting on the microregions of the brain.

The method accurately and simultaneously illustrated the levels dynamics and microregional distribution of various substances, including exogenous drugs and its metabolites, as well as endogenous functional metabolites from complicated brain tissue. The targeted imaging analysis of the prototype drug and its metabolites presented the absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion characteristics of the drug itself. Moreover, the endogenous functional metabolites were identified along with the associated therapeutic and adverse effects of the drug, which can reflect the pharmacodynamics effect on the microregional brain.

This method is significant in elucidating and understanding the molecular mechanism of central nervous system drugs at the temporo and spatial metabolic level of system biology.

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