title: Iron quantification in cerebrospinal fluid.
abstract: Several studies have attempted to measure iron levels in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), which is believed to contain very low levels of iron. In general, the assays used in these studies suffered from poor reproducibility or lack of sensitivity. In the present study, an assay was developed that enables iron quantitation in CSF using 150 microliters of undiluted CSF, sample digestion, dot blotting, Perls' histochemistry, 3,3'-diaminobenzidine enhancement, and densitometry. Inter- and intraassay variability was low and sensitivity high (279 pg iron in 100 microliters). There were negligible readings for standard curves utilizing copper in place of iron. The iron content in eight normal CSF samples was 61.01 +/- 18.3 (SD) micrograms/liter, and in nine normal sera it was 1332.7 +/- 408.2 (SD) micrograms/liter. The present assay enables reliable measures of iron levels in biological samples. This assay should enable future studies that address how CSF iron levels change during the course of various disease states.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City 66160, USA. slevine@kumc.edu
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: LeVine
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Wulser
authors.forename: S G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Lynch
mesh_terms: D006651:Histocytochemistry; D006801:Humans; D007501:Iron / Q000097:blood / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D007501:Iron