Elevated cortical zinc in Alzheimer disease

• Published in: Neurology Vol. 67; no. 1; pp. 69 - 75
• Main Authors: RELIGA, D, STROZYK, D, CHERNY, R. A, VOLITAKIS, I, HAROUTUNIAN, V, WINBLAD, B, NASLUND, J, BUSH, A. I
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hagerstown, MD Lippincott Williams & Wilkins 11-07-2006
• Subjects: Age Factors; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Alzheimer Disease - metabolism; Alzheimer Disease - pathology; Alzheimer Disease - physiopathology; Amyloid - metabolism; Amyloid beta-Peptides - metabolism; Analysis of Variance; Biological and medical sciences; Case-Control Studies; Cerebral Cortex - metabolism; Degenerative and inherited degenerative diseases of the nervous system. Leukodystrophies. Prion diseases; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay - methods; Female; Headache. Facial pains. Syncopes. Epilepsia. Intracranial hypertension. Brain oedema. Cerebral palsy; Humans; Immunohistochemistry - methods; Male; Medical sciences; Medicin och hälsovetenskap; Metals, Heavy - metabolism; Nervous system (semeiology, syndromes); Neurofibrillary Tangles - metabolism; Neurology; Postmortem Changes; Schizophrenia - metabolism; Schizophrenia - pathology; Statistics as Topic; Zinc - metabolism; Nervous system diseases; Degenerative disease; Alzheimer disease; Zinc; Central nervous system disease; Cerebral disorder
• ISSN: 0028-3878; 1526-632X; 1526-632X
• DOI: 10.1212/01.wnl.0000223644.08653.b5

To determine whether changes in brain biometals in Alzheimer disease (AD) and in normal brain tissue are tandemly associated with amyloid beta-peptide (Abeta) burden and dementia severity.
The authors measured zinc, copper, iron, manganese, and aluminum and Abeta levels in postmortem neocortical tissue from patients with AD (n = 10), normal age-matched control subjects (n = 14), patients with schizophrenia (n = 26), and patients with schizophrenia with amyloid (n = 8). Severity of cognitive impairment was assessed with the Clinical Dementia Rating Scale (CDR).
There was a significant, more than twofold, increase of tissue zinc in the AD-affected cortex compared with the other groups. Zinc levels increased with tissue amyloid levels. Zinc levels were significantly elevated in the most severely demented cases (CDR 4 to 5) and in cases that had an amyloid burden greater than 8 plaques/mm(2). Levels of other metals did not differ between groups.
Brain zinc accumulation is a prominent feature of advanced Alzheimer disease (AD) and is biochemically linked to brain amyloid beta-peptide accumulation and dementia severity in AD.