Natural distribution of environmental radon daughters in the different brain areas of an Alzheimer Disease victim

Berislav Momčilović,Marvin Cooley,Glenn I Lykken

doi:10.1186/1750-1326-1-11

Abstract

BackgroundRadon is a ubiquitous noble gas in the environment and a primary source of harmful radiation exposure for humans; it decays in a cascade of daughters (RAD) by releasing the cell damaging high energy alpha particles.ResultsWe studied natural distribution of RAD 210Po and 210Bi in the different parts of the postmortem brain of 86-year-old woman who had suffered from Alzheimer's disease (AD). A distinct brain map emerged, since RAD distribution was different among the analyzed brain areas. The highest RAD irradiation (mSv·year-1) occurred in the decreasing order of magnitude: amygdale (Amy) >> hippocampus (Hip) > temporal lobe (Tem) ~ frontal lobe (Fro) > occipital lobe (Occ) ~ parietal lobe (Par) > substantia nigra (SN) >> locus ceruleus (LC) ~ nucleus basalis (NB); generally more RAD accumulated in the proteins than lipids of gray and white (gray > white) brain matter. Amy and Hip are particularly vulnerable brain structure targets to significant RAD internal radiation damage in AD (5.98 and 1.82 mSv·year-1, respectively). Next, naturally occurring RAD radiation for Tem and Fro, then Occ and Par, and SN was an order of magnitude higher than that in LC and NB; the later was within RAD we observed previously in the healthy control brains.ConclusionNaturally occurring environmental RAD exposure may dramatically enhance AD deterioration by selectively targeting brain areas of emotions (Amy) and memory (Hip).

Highlights

Radon is a ubiquitous noble gas in the environment and a primary source of harmful radiation exposure for humans; it decays in a cascade of daughters (RAD) by releasing the cell damaging high energy alpha particles
We showed that radon daughters 210Po and 210Bi (RAD), accrue selectively in the brain proteins and lipids of men and women who suffered from Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and Parkinson's Disease, respectively [2,3]
Radon and RAD are the source of four cell destructive high energy alpha particles which may significantly contribute to the internal radiation dose of the brain and play a role in AD etiology and pathology [17,18]

Summary

Introduction

Radon is a ubiquitous noble gas in the environment and a primary source of harmful radiation exposure for humans; it decays in a cascade of daughters (RAD) by releasing the cell damaging high energy alpha particles. Most of the AD studies are limited to the brain cortex and limbic system, notably the hippocampus, since these are the well recognized brain areas involved in the AD memory loss [10]; the role of other brain structures in AD is poorly understood [11,12,13] In this case report, we studied the distribution of naturally occurring environmental RAD in different brain areas in AD. Radon and RAD are the source of four cell destructive high energy alpha particles which may significantly contribute to the internal radiation dose of the brain and play a role in AD etiology and pathology [17,18]

Results

Discussion

Conclusion