TRANSFERRIN AND IRON IN NORMAL, ALZHEIMERS-DISEASE, AND PARKINSONS-DISEASE BRAIN-REGIONS

Oxidant-mediated damage is suspected to be involved in the pathogenesi s of several neurodegenerative disorders. iron promotes conversion of hydrogen peroxide to hydroxyl radical and, thus, may contribute to oxi dant stress. We measured iron and its transport protein transferrin in caudate, putamen, globus pallidus, substantia nigra, and frontal cort ex of subjects with Alzheimer's disease (n = 14) and Parkinson's disea se (n = 14), and in younger adult (n = 8) and elderly (n = 8) normal c ontrols. Although there were no differences between control groups wit h regard to concentrations of iron and transferrin, iron was significa ntly increased (p < 0.05) in Alzheimer's disease globus pallidus and f rontal cortex and Parkinson's disease globus pallidus, and transferrin was significantly increased in Alzheimer's disease frontal cortex, co mpared with elderly controls. The transferrin/iron ratio, a measure of iron mobilization capacity, was decreased in globus pallidus and caud ate in both disorders. Regional transferrin and iron concentrations we re generally more highly correlated (Pearson's correlation coefficient ) in elderly controls than in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. The altered relationship between iron and transferrin provides further ev idence that a disturbance in iron metabolism may be involved in both d isorders.