title: Increased ferric iron content and iron-induced oxidative stress in the brains of scrapie-infected mice.
abstract: Scrapie is a transmissible neurodegenerative disease of sheep and goats. The neuropathological changes include vacuolation, astrocytosis, the development of amyloid plaques in some instances, and neuronal loss. The mechanisms involved in neuronal cell death in scrapie are not known. Recently, we reported the presence of oxidative stress in the brains of scrapie-infected animals and suggested that this is the main mechanism that induces neuronal cell loss. It is known that oxidative stress induced by free radicals is associated with iron accumulation; this association led to an examination of the levels of iron (total iron, Fe(2+) and Fe(3+)) in the brains of control and scrapie-infected mice by biochemical methods. In the scrapie-infected group, both the level of total iron and the Fe(3+) level were significantly increased in cerebral cortex, striatum, and brainstem as compared to the values in the control group. A shift in the ratio of Fe(2+)/Fe(3+) was observed in the same regions of infected mice. Additionally, in this scrapie model, we confirmed the presence of oxidative stress, as evidenced by the increase of free malondialdehyde. These results suggest that iron metabolism is changed and that iron-induced oxidative stress partly contributes to neurodegeneration in scrapie infection.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Environment and Life Science, Hallym Academy of Sciences, 1 Ockcheon-Dong, Chuncheon, 200-702, Kangwon-Do, South Korea.
authors.forename: N H
authors.initials: NH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: J K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.forename: E K
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: R I
authors.initials: RI
authors.lastname: Carp
authors.forename: Y S
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D001933:Brain Stem / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D005290:Ferric Compounds / Q000097:blood*; D005296:Ferrous Compounds / Q000097:blood*; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D007501:Iron / Q000097:blood*; D015227:Lipid Peroxidation / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D017072:Neostriatum / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D009498:Neurotoxins / Q000378:metabolism; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000502:physiology*; D012608:Scrapie / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology
chemical_list: D005290:Ferric Compounds; D005296:Ferrous Compounds; D009498:Neurotoxins; D007501:Iron