Brain iron concentrations in regions of interest and relation with serum iron levels in Parkinson disease

Abstract

Brain iron has been previously found elevated in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc), but not in other brain regions, of Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients. However, iron in circulation has been recently observed to be lower than normal in PD patients. The regional selectivity of iron deposition in brain as well as the relationship between SNpc brain iron and serum iron within PD patients has not been completely elucidated. In this pilot study we measured brain iron in six regions of interest (ROIs) as well as serum iron and serum ferritin, in 24 PD patients and 27 age- gender- matched controls. Brain iron was measured on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with a T2 prime (T2’) method. Difference in brain iron deposition between PD cases and controls for the six ROIs were calculated. SNpc / white matter brain iron ratios and SNpc/ serum iron ratios were calculated for each study participant, and differences between PD patients and controls were tested. PD patients overall had higher brain iron than controls in the SNpc. PD patients had significantly higher SNpc / white matter brain iron ratios than controls, and significantly higher brain SNpc iron / serum iron ratios than controls. These results indicate that PD patients’ iron metabolism is disrupted toward a higher partitioning of iron to the brain SNpc at the expenses of iron in the circulation.

Lactoferrin protects against iron dysregulation, oxidative stress, and apoptosis in 1‐methyl‐4‐phenyl‐1,2,3,6‐tetrahydropyridine (MPTP)‐induced Parkinson’s disease in mice

“…These data are supported by previous studies reporting increased serum iron levels in PD patients (Madenci et al, ; Zhao et al, ; Kumudini et al, ). Serum iron levels increased at early stages of PD and decrease with advancing age (Pichler et al, ; Zhao et al, ; Jiao et al, ), potentially explaining reports of decreased (Pichler et al, ; Costa‐Mallen et al, ) or unchanged (Qureshi et al, ; Meamar et al, ) serum iron levels in PD. Some studies reported minor elevations in serum ferritin in PD (Cabrera‐Valdivia et al, ; Costa‐Mallen et al, ),whereas others reported ferritin levels to be reduced in PD (Abbott et al, ; Friedman et al, ).…”

Role of the combination of FA and parameters as a new diagnostic method in therapeutic evaluation of parkinson's disease

“…9 Furthermore, the T Ã 2 parameter, sensitive to the macroscopic and microscopic inhomogeneities of the magnetic field, could also serve as a new biomarker in PD diagnosis. [10][11][12] In a recent 6-OHDA rat model study, Olmedo-Diaz et al found that iron inclusions were closely associated with active microglia, indicating a role for microglia in brain iron accumulation and dopamine neurodegeneration. 13 Therefore, the iron accumulation in microglia may mainly affect the T Ã 2 value.…”

“…Furthermore, Chiang et al found that a low FA value was accompanied by high mean diffusivity (MD) in the parietal, occipital, and cerebellar regions in patients with PD, which was indicative of demyelination in these areas, and that FA values were significantly positively correlated with disease severity . Furthermore, the parameter, sensitive to the macroscopic and microscopic inhomogeneities of the magnetic field, could also serve as a new biomarker in PD diagnosis . In a recent 6‐OHDA rat model study, Olmedo‐Diaz et al found that iron inclusions were closely associated with active microglia, indicating a role for microglia in brain iron accumulation and dopamine neurodegeneration .…”

Iron deposition quantification: Applications in the brain and liver

“…Using , several studies found correlations with measures of motor scores . Although only a few articles are published on mapping due to the difficulty of getting this information, its insensitivity to water content was a strong motivation to use it before the development of QSM.…”