IRON IN PARKINSONIAN AND CONTROL SUBSTANTIA-NIGRA - A MOSSBAUER-SPECTROSCOPY STUDY

We used Mossbauer spectroscopy to study the iron content, the redox st ate, and the binding site of iron in substantia nigra (SN) from parkin sonian (PD) and control brains. Measurements performed on fresh-frozen , formalin-fixed, and lyophilized samples demonstrated the presence of ferric (Fe3+) iron only, both in PD and control SN. Ferrous iron, if present at all, may represent at most 5% of the total iron. We found n o difference in the total amount of iron in SN between PD and control brains. The Mossbauer spectra observed at 4.1 K in fresh (frozen or ly ophilized) samples were different from those obtained in formalin-fixe d (frozen or lyophilized) samples. In the fresh samples, only ferritin -like iron was observed, whereas in the samples frozen or lyophilized from formalin, non-ferritin iron was detected.