Biochemical mystery unfolds as elemental metals found in Alzheimer’s patients’ brains
In a discovery that raises more question than it answers, researchers have found zero-oxidation-state iron and copper deposits inside amyloid plaques
The presence of elemental iron and copper embedded in brain samples of Alzheimer’s patients is an unexpected twist on known human biochemistry. ‘These metal forms haven’t been seen in human biology before,’ says Neil Telling from Keele University in the UK, who led the study. ‘We’re seeing something beyond what we understand regarding the biochemical world.’