Iron and reactive oxygen species activity in parkinsonian substantia nigra

Wypijewska, Anna; Galazka-Friedman, Jolanta; Bauminger, Erika R.; Wszolek, Zbigniew K.; Schweitzer, Katherine J.; Dickson, Dennis W.; Jaklewicz, Andrzej; Elbaum, Danek; Friedman, Andrzej

doi:10.1016/j.parkreldis.2010.02.007

« Previous Next »Parkinsonism & Related Disorders
Volume 16, Issue 5 , Pages 329-333, June 2010

Iron and reactive oxygen species activity in parkinsonian substantia nigra☆

Anna Wypijewska
- Department of Biophysics, Institute of Experimental Physics, University of Warsaw, Poland
Jolanta Galazka-Friedman
- Faculty of Physics, Warsaw University of Technology, Poland
Erika R. Bauminger
- Racah Institute of Physics, Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Israel
Zbigniew K. Wszolek
- Department of Neurology, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, USA
Katherine J. Schweitzer
- Department of Neurology, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, USA
Dennis W. Dickson
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, USA
Andrzej Jaklewicz
- Department of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Medical University of Warsaw, Poland
Danek Elbaum
- Institute of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
Andrzej Friedman
- Department of Neurology, Medical University of Warsaw, Kondratowicza 8, 03-242 Warsaw, Poland
- Corresponding author. Tel./fax: +48 223265815.

Received 5 October 2009; received in revised form 11 February 2010; accepted 12 February 2010.

Abstract

Objectives

We sought to determine concentrations of total and labile iron in substantia nigra from patients with Parkinson disease and from controls to assess if oxidative stress is triggered by an increased concentration of iron.

Methods

Total iron concentration in the whole substantia nigra was evaluated in 17 parkinsonian and 29 control samples. Concentrations of labile iron and copper were assessed in 6 parkinsonian and 8 control samples. The total iron concentration, the Fe²⁺/Fe³⁺ ratio, and iron-binding compounds were determined by Mössbauer spectroscopy. Labile iron and copper were measured by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry. Activity of reactive oxygen species was evaluated by visible light fluorescence.

Results

The labile iron concentration was significantly higher and corresponded to significantly higher reactive oxygen species activity in parkinsonian vs control samples. No significant difference was found in the total concentrations of copper or iron in the whole substantia nigra between parkinsonian and control samples. Mössbauer spectroscopy detected no Fe²⁺ in any samples.

Conclusions

The substantia nigra of parkinsonian patients contained more labile iron compared with that of controls. This labile iron generated higher reactive oxygen species activity. The oxidative stress damage in parkinsonian substantia nigra may be related to an excess of labile iron and not of the total iron in the diseased tissue.

Keywords: Parkinson disease, Oxidative stress, Labile iron, Reactive oxygen species