ICP-MS: a new look at trace elements in Alzheimer's disease

It has been known for over 100 years that trace elements play an essential role in metabolism. Some 24 elements are now acknowledged as being essential to life. Many conditions have been examined in recent years from a trace element viewpoint. Alzheimer's disease and the part played by aluminium has received much attention, particularly since Crapper's work in the early 1970's. Extremely low levels of elements of interest and inappropriate methods of analysis are problems common to elemental tissue studies. Many early studies are now known to have reported falsely high levels of elements in tissues for just these reasons. Much research in recent years has been directed to looking at a range of trace elements thought to play a part in neurological disorders, particularly Alzheimer's disease. Inductively Coupled Plasma Source Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) is an ultra-sensitive, multi-element technique which can determine up to 90% of the elements in the periodic table, many at the sub ng.g-1 level. Developed and adopted commercially within the last 10 years, ICP-MS has to date been applied mainly to geological and environmental studies. Its suitability for use in biological investigations is now being exploited to examine the levels of 20 elements in brain tissue, cerebrospinal fluid, serum and aqueous humour from Alzheimer victims and matched control subjects.