garyak wrote:This neurologist claims ( through his own research ) that " increased iron in the MS brain is an accumulation ( for some reason ) of iron normally found in the brain and is different than iron that would be found there if it's source was reflux of blood from jugular veins".
Here's what Dr. Sclafani had to say about iron on April 11th:
drsclafani wrote:The theory, and only a theory, about iron deposition in ccsvi is that the luxuriant vicarious redistribution of blood flow away from the obstructed veins through the brain and out collateral veins is such that the blood brain barrier is compromised and rthis results in leakage of red blood cells (iron richc blood vessels) into the brain. Theoritically these lead to iron deposits and hemosiderin depositis in his brain. . This iron ultimately breaks down and leads to iron deposits.
So the type of iron in the brain left by blood would be hemosiderin...which is not the form of iron found in the brain in MS...but there is a way for hemosiderin to break down and become the type of iron deposits found in the brain in MS? Any hematologists here, by chance? Anyone know what form of iron IS found in the brain in MS?
Ok, he addressed it again a few days later, at 3 am in the morning, which would get him the award for dedication if he didn't already have it just for being here:
drsclafani wrote:i like the concept that iron gets into the brain via diapedesis of red blood cells across the venular walls that are damaged by vicarious luxuriant perfusion that occurs with ccsvi. When red cells die, they leave behind hemoglobin that gets degraded into hemosiderin that ultimately also breaks down. ADmittedly there are probably other reasons that iron gets in to the brain too.
hard to remember at 3 in the morning!
So: hemoglobin breaks down into hemosiderin which breaks down into...?
edited to add:
from wikipedia: "Much of the resulting important breakdown products are recirculated in the body. The heme constituent of hemoglobin are broken down into Fe3+ and biliverdin. The biliverdin is reduced to bilirubin, which is released into the plasma and recirculated to the liver bound to albumin. The iron is released into the plasma to be recirculated by a carrier protein called transferrin." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_blood_cell
FE3+ is ferric iron, Fe2+ is ferrous iron.
So the hemosiderin breaks down into ferric iron...
"However, the truth in science ultimately emerges, although sometimes it takes a very long time," Arthur Silverstein, Autoimmunity: A History of the Early Struggle for Recognition