title: Iron, atherosclerosis, and neurodegeneration: a key role for cholesterol in promoting iron-dependent oxidative damage?
abstract: This article reviews the roles and interactions of iron, atherosclerosis, and neurodegeneration. It highlights the importance of cholesterol in promoting iron-dependent oxidative damage. An intriguing possibility is that hypercholesterolemia can increase brain iron load and both the aggregation of beta-amyloid and the ability of iron on plaques to catalyze oxidative damage. This could explain why hypercholesterolemia is a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease. Further work is necessary to study the mechanism of increased iron transport across the blood brain barrier in atherosclerosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, National University of Singapore, Singapore 119260. antongwy@nus.edu.sg
authors.forename: Wei-Yi
authors.initials: WY
authors.lastname: Ong
authors.forename: Barry
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Halliwell
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001161:Arteriosclerosis / Q000378:metabolism*; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007501:Iron / Q000378:metabolism*; D019636:Neurodegenerative Diseases / Q000378:metabolism*; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D002784:Cholesterol; D007501:Iron