Physicochemistry in medicine: some selected examples

Research on pathological calcifications constitutes an exciting topic at the interface between physics, chemistryand medicine. The relationship between their physicochemical characteristics and the pathology responsible for theirformation offers a unique opportunity to perform a significant medical diagnosis, to assess the interaction between drugsand these biological entities as well as to develop new drugs. Regarding synchrotron radiation, the emergence ofmicrobeam allows the clinician to perform an early diagnosis. Indeed, we will start this review with a clinical case whereFourier transform infrared spectroscopy using synchrotron radiation as a probe allowed the clinician to save the kidneyfunction of a patient. Following this example, we will see that investigations on pathological calcifications constitute anelegant way to gather major information on different public health problems such type 2 diabetes as well as on rarediseases. To attain this goal, this mini-review dedicated to structural and chemical investigations and based on selectedand recent data collected through techniques using third generation synchrotron radiation as a probe is proposed to thereader.