Natural distribution of environmental radon daughters in the different brain areas of an Alzheimer Disease victim

doi:10.1186/1750-1326-1-11

Molecular Neurodegeneration

Volume 1

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Lykken GI
Cooley M

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Cooley M
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Research article

Natural distribution of environmental radon daughters in the different brain areas of an Alzheimer Disease victim

Berislav Momčilović¹ , Glenn I Lykken² and Marvin Cooley³

¹Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Health, PO Box 291, 10001 Zagreb, Croatia

²Department of Physics, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND 58202-7129, USA

³Department of Pathology, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND 58202-7129, USA

author email corresponding author email

Molecular Neurodegeneration 2006, 1:11doi:10.1186/1750-1326-1-11


Published:	11 September 2006

Abstract

Background

Radon is a ubiquitous noble gas in the environment and a primary source of harmful radiation exposure for humans; it decays in a cascade of daughters (RAD) by releasing the cell damaging high energy alpha particles.

Results

We studied natural distribution of RAD ²¹⁰Po and ²¹⁰Bi in the different parts of the postmortem brain of 86-year-old woman who had suffered from Alzheimer's disease (AD). A distinct brain map emerged, since RAD distribution was different among the analyzed brain areas. The highest RAD irradiation (mSv·year^-1) occurred in the decreasing order of magnitude: amygdale (Amy) >> hippocampus (Hip) > temporal lobe (Tem) ~ frontal lobe (Fro) > occipital lobe (Occ) ~ parietal lobe (Par) > substantia nigra (SN) >> locus ceruleus (LC) ~ nucleus basalis (NB); generally more RAD accumulated in the proteins than lipids of gray and white (gray > white) brain matter. Amy and Hip are particularly vulnerable brain structure targets to significant RAD internal radiation damage in AD (5.98 and 1.82 mSv·year^-1, respectively). Next, naturally occurring RAD radiation for Tem and Fro, then Occ and Par, and SN was an order of magnitude higher than that in LC and NB; the later was within RAD we observed previously in the healthy control brains.

Conclusion

Naturally occurring environmental RAD exposure may dramatically enhance AD deterioration by selectively targeting brain areas of emotions (Amy) and memory (Hip).