Abstract
The bioavailability of trace metals can be directly linked with many common animal and human diseases. It is easier to correlate regional geochemical trends with disease distribution in the developing world because local populations and animals live from the land. In the western world, humans tend to live from the global food market whereas animals graze on the land. Recent biochemical studies have shown that the prion protein needs copper to keep its structure. If copper is not available, the prion protein can take up manganese and unfold. Preliminary results for trace metals in soil samples from scrapie-affected areas in Iceland show that bioavailable manganese manganese (easily reducible and exchangeable Mn) is very high whereas soluble copper and free copper are very low.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 228-234 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | Journal of Geochemical Exploration |
| Volume | 88 |
| Issue number | 1-3 SPEC. ISS. |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Jan 2006 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information: This research is undertaken in a multi-disciplinary manner not only with geochemists (Bristol and London, UK) and soil scientists (Grenoble, France) but also with biophysicists (Grenoble, France), biochemists and neurologists (Bath, UK), molecular biologists (Berlin, Germany), toxicologists and pathologists (Perugia, Italy), and pharmacologists, medical doctors and veterinary scientists (Iceland). This paper has benefited from discussions with David Brown, Anette Buechl, Laurent Charlet, Kristin Bjorg Gudmundsdottir, Olafur Arnalds, Thorkell Johannesson, Sigurdur Sigurdarson, Anna Korre, Jane Plant, Gerd Multhaup, and Gigliola Zucconi-Grassi. The work presented here is funded by the Leverhulme Trust (F/00 181/R) and the Quality of Life Programme (Environment) of the European Commission (5th Framework — QLRT-2001-02723).Other keywords
- Bioavailability
- Copper
- Manganese
- Scrapie
- Soil