The link between Alzheimer and magnetite particles questioned
In the city, polluted air often contains nanoparticles of magnetite that can be inhaled and even end up in the brain.
Work has suggested that magnetite may favor Alzheimer’s through redox reactions. But a new CNRS study challenges this hypothesis.
According to the CNRS statement, magnetite is inert in the human body and does not provoke a reaction capable of triggering Alzheimer’s disease. Therefore, it could not be held responsible for the neurodegeneration linked to oxidative stress.
But it is not excluded that magnetite could have a harmful effect by another mechanism.
Bernard Meunier, director of research at CNRS Toulouse and one of the authors of this study, explained “our publication challenges publications on the track of the binding of magnetite to amyloid and the production of oxidation-reduction reactions . There is indeed magnetite in the human brain in very small quantities”.
