title: Distribution of iron in the basal ganglia and neocortex in postmortem tissue in Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease.
abstract: Post-mortem tissue was obtained from subjects with Parkinson's disease (PD), Alzheimer's disease (AD) and age-matched controls. Iron levels were measured from various sites of the basal ganglia and neocortex using atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The results indicate that iron levels are increased in the substantia nigra and the lateral segment of the globus pallidus of parkinsonian tissue. In contrast, the medial segment of the globus pallidus shows reduced iron levels in AD when compared to age-matched controls. No significant alterations of iron concentration were detected in AD in any region. These results are discussed in terms of the role of iron in the basal ganglia, mechanisms of abnormal deposition and possible neurotoxicity in PD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell and Structural Biology, Medical School, University of Manchester, UK.
authors.forename: P D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Griffiths
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Crossman
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000378:metabolism*; D001479:Basal Ganglia / Q000378:metabolism*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000378:metabolism*; D005917:Globus Pallidus / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007501:Iron / Q000378:metabolism*; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000378:metabolism*; D013054:Spectrophotometry, Atomic
chemical_list: D007501:Iron