Determination of Cu, Mn, Fe, and Ca in six regions of normal human brain, by atomic absorption spectroscopy.

A method is reported for measuring copper, manganese, iron, and calcium in brain tissue. We solubilized 100-mg samples of brain tissue with Soluene-350 and diluted the mixtures with methyl isobutyl ketone. Copper and manganese concentrations were measured by using a carbon rod atomizer, iron and calcium concentrations by using an air/acetylene and nitrous oxide/acetylene flame, respectively. The basal ganglia (caudate, putamen, globus pallidus, and substantia nigra) contained high concentrations of iron (10 to 19 mumol/g dry wt) as compared to concentrations found in the cortex (4 mumol/g) or the hippocampus (2.8 mumol/g). Copper exhibited a similar distribution pattern among the regions studied; 526 to 1140 mumol/g (dry wt) in the basal ganglia vs 496 mumol/g in the cortex and 426 mumol/g in the hippocampus. Manganese and calcium were uniformly distributed in the regions examined.