12 January 2006
The human body contains many metals, from the iron in hemoglobin to the calcium in bones. Other metals, usually in trace amounts, participate in many metabolic and degenerative processes. The recent issue of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease (Volume 8, Issue 2) published by IOS Press is devoted to "Metal Ions and Neurodegenerative Diseases" and presents a collection of important papers dedicated to uncovering the role of various metals in human neurophysiology and neurodegenerative disorders, particularly Alzheimer's Disease.
Guest editor Paolo Zatta, CNR-Institute for Biomedical Technologies, Metalloproteins Unit, Department of Biology, University of Padova, Italy, sets the stage for the special issue. "Metal ions are essential building blocks for life. However, they are also deeply implicated in pathological events related to their depletion or abnormal accumulation in human and animal tissues, mainly the brain, with consequent neurodegenerative phenomena," he writes in the foreword, dedicated to Professor Marino Nicolini. "In the last three decades abundant scientific literature has attributed an important role to metal ions in neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's (AD), Parkinson's, Huntingtons's, Menkes' and Wilson's diseases, as well as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, prion diseases and others."
The issue contains 11 research and review papers, a conference report from the 3rd International Conference on Metals and the Brain and the transcript of a live discussion among leading researchers in the field.
With papers covering iron and aluminum metabolism, zinc biochemistry, calcium and copper disorders, and other metal-related pathologies, this special issue provides key insights into the neurological effects of metals in the human body.
Table of Contents for Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, Volume 8, Issue 2
Contact: George Perry
George.Perry@case.edu
Case Western Reserve University
