Human synovial fluid, from a patient with synovitis disease, was examined by electron spin resonance spectroscopy for evidence of free radicals. The ascorbate free radical was observed and its intensity was affected by iron chelating agents, demonstrating that the iron in the synovial fluid is indeed available for oxidative catalysis.

Research this year in the laboratory and field continued to show that the bactericidal action of copper compounds could be greatly increased by amending them with iron. There are at least three different mechanisms which cause the increased efficacy: 1) When soluble iron is added to fixed coppers at amounts ranging from 10 to 100 ppm, the ferric iron interacts synergistically with the copper io...

Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA) is the result of mutations in the nuclear-encoded frataxin gene, which is expressed in mitochondria. Several lines of evidence have suggested that frataxin is involved in mitochondrial iron homeostasis. We have transfected the frataxin gene into lymphoblasts of FRDA compound heterozygotes (FRDA-CH) with deficient frataxin expression to produce FRDA-CH-t cells in which...

Frataxin, a small mitochondrial protein linked to the neurodegenerative disease Friedreich ataxia, has recently been proposed as an iron donor for the iron-sulfur cluster assembly. An analogous function has also been attributed to IscA, a key member of the iron-sulfur cluster assembly machinery found in bacteria, yeast, and humans. Here we have compared the iron binding property of IscA and the...

Iron is an essential element. However, in its free form, iron participates in redox-reactions, leading to the production of free radicals that increase oxidative stress and the risk of damaging processes. Living organisms have an efficient mechanism that regulates iron absorption according to their iron content to protect against oxidative damage. The effects of restricted and enriched-iron die...

PURPOSE Endometriotic cysts are known to transform into ovarian cancers, such as clear cell and endometrioid carcinomas. We hypothesized that an iron-rich environment produced by the repetition of hemorrhage in the endometriotic cysts during the reproductive period may play a crucial role in carcinogenesis in the cysts through the iron-induced persistent oxidative stress. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN ...

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is the causative agent of chronic respiratory infections and is an important pathogen of cystic fibrosis patients. Adaptive mutations play an essential role for antimicrobial resistance and persistence. The factors that contribute to bacterial mutagenesis in this environment are not clear. Recently it has been proposed that cationic antimicrobial peptides such as LL-37 co...

RATIONALE Because the characteristics of all body fluids depends on patient's health status, is it possible that disadvantaged and socially vulnerable mothers may have lower amounts of iron in their breast milk, and that their babies receive lower content of the mineral for their normal growth and development. Assuring a preventive treatment of the mother might solve this problem. OBJECTIVE T...

Acute administration of iron to rats has been previously shown to induce liver ferritin synthesis by increasing the translation of inactive cytoplasmic ferritin mRNAs for both heavy (H) and light (L) subunits by mobilizing them onto polyribosomes. In this report rat hepatoma cells in culture are used to explore the relationship of this response to intracellular iron levels. After adding iron as...

Brain tissue being rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids, is very susceptible to lipid peroxidation. Iron is well known to be an important initiator of free radical oxidations. We propose that the principal route to iron-mediated lipid peroxidations is via iron-oxygen complexes rather than the reaction of iron with hydrogen peroxide, the Fenton reaction. To test this hypothesis, we enriched leuke...