Role of Brain Iron Accumulation in Cognitive Dysfunction: Evidence
from Animal Models and Human Studies
Journal Journal of Alzheimer's Disease
Nadja Schröder1, 2, Luciana Silva Figueiredo1, Maria Noêmia Martins de
Lima1
1Neurobiology and Developmental Biology Laboratory, Faculty of
Biosciences, Pontifical Catholic University, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
2National Institute for Translational Medicine (INCT-TM), Porto
Alegre, RS, Brazil
Abstract
Over the last decades, studies from our laboratory and other groups
using animal models have shown that iron overload, resulting in iron
accumulation in the brain, produces significant cognitive deficits.
Iron accumulation in the hippocampus and the basal ganglia has been
related to impairments in spatial memory, aversive memory, and
recognition memory in rodents.
These results are corroborated by studies showing that the
administration of iron chelators attenuates cognitive deficits in a
variety of animal models of cognitive dysfunction, including aging and
Alzheimer's disease models.
Remarkably, recent human studies using magnetic resonance image
techniques have also shown a consistent correlation between cognitive
dysfunction and iron deposition, mostly in the hippocampus, cortical
areas, and basal ganglia in humans.
These findings may have relevant implications in the light of the
knowledge that iron accumulates in brain regions of patients suffering
from neurodegenerative diseases.
A better understanding of the functional consequences of iron
dysregulation in aging and neurological diseases may help to identify
novel targets for treating memory problems that afflict a growing
aging population.
Publisher IOS Press
ISSN 1387-2877 (Print)
1875-8908 (Online)
DOI 10.3233/JAD-121996
Copyright ©2012 IOS Press All rights reserved.
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