REVIEW PAPER
Role of iron in pathogenesis of Parkinson disease

Parkinson’s disease is one of the most frequent human neurodegenerations. Motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease

are the consequence of the destruction of nervous cells in the substantia nigra (SN), a small (about 500 mg)

structure located deep in human brain. The concentration of iron in SN is comparable to that in liver and is equal

to about 180 ± 60 ng/mg of wet tissue and the iron in SN is mostly bound to ferritin. For many years it has been

believed that the degeneration of nervous cells in SN in Parkinson’s disease is related to an important increase

in the concentration of iron. Our own studies based on Mössbauer spectroscopy and other studies conducted with

the use of various techniques have not confirmed this finding. The ratio of the concentration of iron in PD vs.

control SN evaluated by Mössbauer spectroscopy was found to be equal 1.00±0.13. We also confirmed that most

of iron in SN is located within ferritin. ELISA studies demonstrated a significant decrease in L ferritin in parkinsonian

SN compared to the control group. As L-ferritin is related to safe keeping of iron within the ferritin shell,

its decrease may lead to an efflux of iron and increase in the concentration of labile iron. Indeed our studies did

show a difference in the concentration of labile iron between PD and control SN (135 ± 10 ng/g vs. 76 ± 5 ng/g).

This labile iron, which may initiate Fenton reaction, may be the cause of the oxidative stress leading to the death

of nervous cells in PD.