Monitoring of chemical elements and oxidative damage in patients affected by Alzheimer's disease
Bocca, B.; Forte, G.; Petrucci, F.; Pino, A.; Marchione, F.; Bomboi, G.; Senofonte, O.; Giubilei, F.; Alimonti, A.
Annali Dell'istituto Superiore di Sanita 41(2): 197-203
2005
ISSN/ISBN: 0021-2571 PMID: 16244393 Document Number: 593636
The blood concentration of 26 metals and the extent of oxidative damage in 60 patients (20 men and 40 women; mean age, 74.6+or-6.3 years) with Alzheimer's disease and in 44 healthy individuals (33 men and 11 women, aged >45 years) from Italy were compared. The subjects were recruited between September 2003 and July 2004. In patients, the following significant (P<=0.05) discrepancies were found: (i) increment of caclium, cadmium, mercury, magnesium, silicon and tin, and decrement of aluminium, cobalt, iron and zinc in serum; (ii) higher concentrations of copper, lithium, manganese, tin and zirconium, and lower of iron, mercury, molybdenum in blood; and (iii) overproduction of oxidant species (SOS) and decrease of the antioxidant capacity (SAC) (P<=0.001, for both). Variables that were better discriminated between patients and controls were silicon, SOS, SAC, cobalt, calcium, aluminium in serum (94% of cases correctly classified), and copper, zirconium, molybdenum, and iron in blood (90% of cases properly categorized).