Implication of iron in the development of the central nervous systems and the neurodenerative diseases

Abstract

Iron is an essential element and plays important roles in various biological systems, especially in the central nervous system. There is unincreasing number of epidemiological studies which indicate that children anemic in infancy continue to have poorer cognition, school achievement, and more behavior problems into middle childhood. Furthermore, the disorder of iron and iron-binding proteins in several neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson disease, Huntington disease, and Alzheimer’s disease have been reported. In particular, iron-responsive element is included in the mRNA of amyloid precursor protein, which is believed to be crucial in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease. Iron-supplementation therapy was reported to be effective in the cognitive disturbance of Alzheimer’s patients. Therefore, it is suggested that the abnormal iron metabolism may cause the disruption of iron-regulatory pathway and triggers various neurodegenerative processes.