Decreased Ferritin Levels in Brain in Parkinson's Disease

Ferritin levels were measured in postmortem brain tissue from patients dying with Parkinson's disease [treated with L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-DOPA)] and from control patients. Ferritin levels were decreased in the substantia nigra, caudate-putamen, globus pallidus, cerebral cortex, and cerebellum when compared with age-matched control tissues. However, in CSF from L-DOPA-treated patients and in serum from L-DOPA-treated and untreated parkinsonian patients, ferritin levels were normal. Previous studies have suggested an increased total iron content in substantia nigra of parkinsonian brain. The failure of substantia nigra ferritin formation to be stimulated by increased iron levels suggests some defect in iron handling in this critical brain region in Parkinson's disease. The reason for decreased ferritin levels throughout the parkinsonian brain is not clear but does not seem to reflect a general system deficit in ferritin.