summary: This study combined a mixture of imaging and histological techniques to assess whether cerebral iron deposition in MS was detectable using imaging measures and found that in MS tissue, iron presence invariably matched with an increase in transverse relaxivity, R(2)*. The authors found a number of cellular iron sources, including oligodendrocytes in normal-appearing white matter, and activated macrophages/microglia at the edges of white matter lesions. However although the imaging techniques were quite sensitive at detecting changes in areas of iron accumulation, these changes do not necessarily always reflect pathology and may also be seen in apparently normal tissue.

authors: Bagnato F, Hametner S, Yao B, van Gelderen P, Merkle H, Cantor FK, Lassmann H, Duyn JH.

source: Brain. 2011 Dec;134(Pt 12):3599-612.

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category: Pathology

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