Ferritin is a component of the neuritic (senile) plaque in Alzheimer dementia

Abstract

A strong immunoreactivity for ferritin was observed in the neuritic (senile) plaques in Alzheimer's disease hippocampus. The ferritin accumulation was almost exclusively associated with the microglia, which appeared to have proliferated greatly. These cells were also positive for HLA-DR, a putative marker for reactive microglia. In contrast, in the diffuse plaques, which were without neuritic pathology, the ferritin-stained microglia appeared to be normal. Microglia were seen frequently in contact with neurons undergoing neurofibrillary changes but only the tangles in the extracellular space were ferritin positive. No ferritin was detected, by Western blots, in paired helical filaments isolated from Alzheimer's disease brain, suggesting that ferritin was most likely weakly associated with and was not a constituent of these fibrils. No correlation between increased ferritin/microglia activity and blood-brain barrier leakage was detected. Ferritin, an iron-storage protein, might have a role in the formation of amyloid through the action of free radicals generated during the release of iron from the ferritin molecule. Alternatively, the ferritin/microglia system might be secondarily involved in the removal and processing of the amyloid.

Cortical phase changes in Alzheimer's disease at 7T MRI: A novel imaging marker

“…Similar patterns have been described in studies of AD transgenic mice and postmortem human AD cases, and were attributed to the presence of amyloid plaques using histological confirmation [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]. It has been proposed that the visualization on MRI of plaques in humans and mice is based on the fact that these deposits colocalize with iron, which gives rise to magnetic susceptibility effects on T2*-weighted images over volumes that are much larger than the actual size of amyloid plaques [17,[19][20][21][22][23][24]. An alternative method to measure these susceptibility changes in the brain is to measure the relative phase in regions of interest (ROIs), because it has been shown that this is a reliable indicator of the iron content in the brain [25][26][27][28].…”

The relationship between excitotoxicity and oxidative stress in the central nervous system

“…82 The presence of ferritin in the senile plaque, has also been proposed as evidence for a role for free radicals in amyloid formation. 83 There is less evidence for a relation between AD and chronic low level hyperexcitatory events. However a correlation of extended dietary ingestion of a glutaminergic agonist, 13-methylamino-L-alanine, with a delayed occurrence of a neurological complex (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis-Parkinsonism-Dementia) has been claimed.…”

Iron and Aluminum Homeostasis in Neural Disorders

“…Thus, although the presence of increased aluminum in AD brain is generally confirmed, in one recent report its presence in AD (senile) plaques has been attributed to experimental artifact (50). Similarly, the presence of an increased concentration of ferritin in AD brain reported earlier (31,33) and its localization in neuritic plaques of AD patients (51) has been conVolume 102, Supplement 3, September 1994 211 firmed, but its association with Al was not seen in several AD brains (33). Most reports show that familial cases of AD once considered due to genetic mutations in the AD-gene in chromosome 21 may also arise from mutations in chromosomes 19 and 14 (52).…”