Association of Iron Levels in Hair With Brain Structures and Functions in Young Adults

    November 2019 in “ Journal of Trace Elements in Medicine and Biology ”
    Hikaru Takeuchi, Yasuyuki Taki, Rui Nouchi, Ryoichi Yokoyama, Yuka Kotozaki, Seishu Nakagawa, Atsushi Sekiguchi, Kunio Iizuka, Yuki Yamamoto, Sugiko Hanawa, Tsuyoshi Araki, Carlos Makoto Miyauchi, Kohei Sakaki, Takayuki Nozawa, Shigeyuki Ikeda, Susumu Yokota, Daniele Magistro, Yuko Sassa, Ryuta Kawashima
    TLDR Higher hair iron levels are linked to changes in brain structure and function.
    This study investigated the relationship between hair iron levels and brain imaging measures in 590 young adults. It found that higher hair iron levels were associated with reduced regional gray matter volume (rGMV), reduced regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF), and increased fractional anisotropy (FA), as well as varying mean diffusivity (MD) in different brain areas. These associations suggested diverse physiological roles of iron in the brain, although no link was found between hair iron levels and MD in dopaminergic system areas. The study highlighted the importance of iron in neurological and physiological processes, including its role in dopamine synthesis, neural aging, and myelination.
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