Identification and significance of magnetite in human tissues

Magnetite or iron oxide has been identified in humans as well as certain animals and bacteria. With the current popularity of magnetic resonance imaging, the presence of these ferromagnetic particles in the tissues may impose biological significance. So far, identification of magnetite in tissue has been mainly based on magnetometry. Hence, a simple technique for direct identification of the magnetic particles in tissues is described. Lung tissues with abundant iron material and particles were digested in 1N sodium hydroxide solution. After rinsing, the sediments were suspended in 95% alcohol and placed on a glass slide located on a strong magnet. The iron-containing particles from the digestion procedure were aligned in a parallel manner along the north-south poles of the magnet and were confirmed to be magnetite by x-ray diffraction. No such effect was observed with hemosiderin-containing granules from the control liver tissues. The results of this experiment show that the "biological magnetite" is distinctly different from hemosiderin and has characteristic properties when subjected to a magnetic field.