Magnetic iron biomineralization in rat brains: effects of iron loading

Isothermal remanent magnetization was measured in 14 Wistar and five Porton rat brains. Results indicate that magnetic iron biominerals are present in most of the samples and the formation of these minerals in the rat brain is influenced by transfusion and dietary iron loading when compared to control samples. The high level of consistency in the concentrations and the lack of magnetic material in several of the measured samples indicates that a genetic mechanism may be responsible for magnetic iron biomineralization in the rat brain. Comparison with human studies indicates that extrapolation of the results of rat studies of electromagnetic field bioeffects may not be accurately extrapolated to humans in all cases.