Post-mortem human Alzheimer´s brain metallome depends on Braak stages and brain regions

Abstract

Limited studies have evaluated the influence of redox-related metals on Alzheimer´s brain. We determined 15 metals in 241 human brain samples obtained from five biobanks. We examined the levels of metals in the frontal cortex (CTX) and the basal ganglia (BG) of Alzheimer´s brains of different stages, ranging from Braak stages I and II to Braak stages V and VI. ICP-MS. Imbalances measured metals in the Alzheimer´s brain metallome of different Braak stages and different regions compared to controls and associations in the other areas were estimated by the Krustall-Wallis Test and Spearman correlations, respectively. The metallomes of brain regions compared to the controls were significantly different for most of the metals in the CTX and BG samples. We observed higher levels of Mn, Cu, Mo, and Se and lower levels of Co in Alzheimer´s CTX compared to the controls and higher levels of V and Cr and lower levels of Co in BG. Different associations were found in the Braak stages compared to the control group in CTX and BG samples. Metals may differ in Braak stages across different human brain regions.