Sj. Focht et al., REGIONAL DISTRIBUTION OF IRON, TRANSFERRIN, FERRITIN, AND OXIDATIVELY-MODIFIED PROTEINS IN YOUNG AND AGED FISCHER-344 RAT BRAINS, Neuroscience, 79(1), 1997, pp. 255-261
Iron dysregulation in the brain is thought to contribute to the oxidat
ive damage seen in neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer's di
sease and Parkinson's disease. A role for iron in the oxidative stress
thought to contribute to normal ageing is less certain. To better cha
racterize the role of iron in normal ageing, the concentrations of iro
n, transferrin, ferritin, and protein carbonyl groups are measured in
nine separate regions of Fischer 344 rats. The largest (approximately
30%) age-related increases in brain iron concentration are seen in the
temporal cortex, medial septum, and cerebellum Ferritin concentration
in these same brain regions increases SO to 250% with age, while prot
ein carbonyl concentration is only -27 to +4% of young rats. These res
ults indicate that an increase in the major iron-binding protein ferri
tin compensates for any age-related increase in iron concentration, an
d suggest that the increased ferritin is cytoprotective, serving to pr
event the accumulation of protein carbonyl groups ja principal product
of metal-catalysed oxidation of proteins). (C) 1997 IBRO.