Abstract
We measured aluminum (Al), calcium (Ca), and iron (Fe) levels in neuronal cytoplasm and nucleus, capillaries, and neuropil in samples of ventral cervical spinal cord from 5 patients with sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and 5 age-matched controls using laser microprobe mass spectrometry (LMMS). The concentration of Al was not altered in any area in the ALS samples. In contrast, Fe and Ca were increased 1.5-2-fold in the nucleus and cytoplasm of ALS neurons but not in capillaries and neuropil. These findings do not support the hypothesis that Al is enriched in spinal cord of sporadic ALS as has been reported for Guamanian ALS/Parkinson's dementia. The elevations of Fe in spinal neurons are consistent with reports of increased Fe in bulk samples of ALS spinal cord. The presence of increased Fe within spinal neurons may be significant in the pathogenesis of motor neuron degeneration by catalyzing the generation of reactive oxygen species within specific cells.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 203-208 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Journal of the Neurological Sciences |
Volume | 130 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jun 1995 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Funding for this study was provided by NIH grant NS 25165. The authors express their appreciation to Ms. Carol Richey, Sanders-Brown Center on Aging for her technical expertise in sample preparation for LMMS, to Dr. Richard J. Kryscio, Department of Statistics for his assistance with the statistical analysis of the data, and to Dr. William R. Markesbery for his comments and encouragement.
Keywords
- ALS
- Aluminum
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
- Calcium
- Iron
- Motor neuron disease
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Neurology
- Clinical Neurology