This group, which is associated with FATEPRIDE, are continuing to examine the relationship between copper deficiency and neurodegenerative brain disorders. It is very good to see that this study followed animals from their infancy to the young adult stage. The brain does not finish development until this "young adult stage". With humans, it is known that the brain is not finished full development until approximately 25 years of age.
Copper deficiency showed vacuolation of the brain.
link: http://mycorrhiza.ag.utk.edu/latest/latest06/06_3ragna1.htm
link: http://geochemistry.gly.bris.ac.uk/publications/publications.html
Copper deficiency showed vacuolation of the brain.
Neuropathol Appl Neurobiol. 2007 Apr;33(2):212-25.
Copper deficiency elicits glial and neuronal response typical of neurodegenerative disorders.
Zucconi GG, Cipriani S, Scattoni R, Balgkouranidou I, Hawkins DP, Ragnarsdottir KV.
Department of Cell and Environmental Biology, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy.
Dysregulation of copper homeostasis has been associated with neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and prion diseases. The investigation of the role of abnormal copper level in the development of neuropathological damage is essential for the understanding of pathogenetic mechanisms of these neurodegenerative disorders. Using a mouse model of perinatally induced copper deficiency, the present study analysed the response of neuronal and glial cells to copper deficiency from infancy to young adult age. In mice born and maintained after weaning on copper-deficient diet, copper measurements indicated that at 6-8 weeks the copper levels in the brain were decreased by about 80% with respect to controls. In the brain of copper-deficient mice, microglial and astrocytic activation was observed, mostly in the cerebral cortex and thalamus. In addition, small vacuolated globoid cells confined to the subgranular zone of the dentate gyrus were found in the third postnatal week, and larger vacuolar profiles, identified as neuronal vacuoles, were observed in layer V of the cortex after the fourth week. The spatial distribution and temporal onset of vacuolation appeared to be unrelated to those of activated microglia and astrocytes. Nitrotyrosine-positivity was found to reflect the distribution of vacuoles in the cortex. The specific histopathological features here reported, as well as the severity of neurological deficits observed in this murine model of copper deficiency, strongly suggest that some hallmarks of neurodegenerative disorders could be mediated by multifactorial pathogenetic mechanisms that include copper dysregulation.
PMID: 17359362
2005 Ragnarsdottir K.V. and Hawkins D.P.
Bioavailable copper and manganese in soils from Iceland and their relationship with scrapie occurrence in sheep.
Journal of Geochemical Exploration, 88, 228-234.
The bioavailability of trace metals can be directly linked with many common animal and human diseases. It is easier to correlate regional geochemical trends with disease distribution in the developing world because local populations and animals live from the land. In the western world, humans tend to live from the global food market whereas animals graze on the land. Recent biochemical studies have shown that the prion protein needs copper to keep its structure. If copper is not available, the prion protein can take up manganese and unfold. Preliminary results for trace metals in soil samples from scrapie-affected areas in Iceland show that bioavailable manganese manganese (easily reducible and exchangeable Mn) is very high whereas soluble copper and free copper are very low.
link: http://mycorrhiza.ag.utk.edu/latest/latest06/06_3ragna1.htm
link: http://geochemistry.gly.bris.ac.uk/publications/publications.html