Spin density projection-assisted R2 magnetic resonance imaging of the liver in the management of body iron stores in patients receiving multiple red blood cell transfusions: an audit and retrospective study in South Australia.

AIM: To assess the impact of non-invasive monitoring of liver iron concentration (LIC) on management of body iron stores in patients receiving multiple blood transfusions. METHOD: A retrospective audit was conducted on clinical data from 40 consecutive subjects with haemolytic anaemias or ineffective haematopoiesis who had been monitored non-invasively for LIC over a period of at least 1 year. LIC was measured with spin density projection-assisted proton transverse relaxation rate-magnetic resonance imaging. RESULTS: Nineteen clinical decisions were explicitly documented in the case notes as being based on LIC results. Decisions comprised initiation of chelation therapy, increasing chelator dose, decreasing chelator dose and change of mode of delivery of deferioxamine from subcutaneous to intravenous. The geometrical mean LIC for the cohort dropped significantly (P= 0.008) from 6.8 mg Fe/g dry tissue at initial measurement to 4.8 mg Fe/g dry tissue at final measurement. The proportion of subjects with LIC in the range associated with greatly increased risk of cardiac disease and death (>15 mg Fe/g dry tissue) dropped significantly (P= 0.01) from 14 of 40 subjects at initial measurement to 5 of 40 subjects at final measurement. No significant changes in the geometrical mean of serum ferritin or the proportion of subjects with serum ferritin above 2500 or 1500 µg/L were observed. CONCLUSIONS: The data are consistent with previous observations that introduction of non-invasive monitoring of LIC can contribute to a decreased body iron burden through improved clinical decision making and improved feedback to patients and hence improved adherence to chelation therapy.

Magnetic susceptibility of iron in malaria-infected red blood cells.

During intra-erythrocytic maturation, malaria parasites catabolize up to 80% of cellular haemoglobin. Haem is liberated inside the parasite and converted to haemozoin, preventing haem iron from participating in cell-damaging reactions. Several experimental techniques exploit the relatively large paramagnetic susceptibility of malaria-infected cells as a means of sorting cells or investigating haemoglobin degradation, but the source of the dramatic increase in cellular magnetic susceptibility during parasite growth has not been unequivocally determined. Plasmodium falciparum cultures were enriched using high-gradient magnetic fractionation columns and the magnetic susceptibility of cell contents was directly measured. The forms of haem iron in the erythrocytes were quantified spectroscopically. In the 3D7 laboratory strain, the parasites converted approximately 60% of host cell haemoglobin to haemozoin and this product was the primary source of the increase in cell magnetic susceptibility. Haemozoin iron was found to have a magnetic susceptibility of (11.0+/-0.9)x10(-3) mL mol(-1). The calculated volumetric magnetic susceptibility (SI units) of the magnetically enriched cells was (1.88+/-0.60)x10(-6) relative to water while that of uninfected cells was not significantly different from water. Magnetic enrichment of parasitised cells can therefore be considered dependent primarily on the magnetic susceptibility of the parasitised cells.

The magnetic susceptibilities of iron deposits in thalassaemic spleen tissue.

The iron-specific magnetic susceptibility of tissue iron deposits is used in the field of non-invasive measurement of tissue iron concentrations. It has generally been assumed to be a constant for all tissue and disease types. The iron-specific magnetic susceptibilities chi(Fe) for spleen tissue samples from 7 transfusion dependent beta-thalassaemia (beta-thal) patients and 11 non-transfusion dependent beta-thalassaemia/Haemoglobin E (beta/E) patients were measured at 37 degrees C. Both groups of patients were iron loaded with no significant difference in the distribution of spleen iron concentrations between the two groups. There was a significant difference between the mean chi(Fe) of the spleen tissue from each group. The non-transfusion dependent beta/E patients had a higher mean (+/-standard deviation) spleen chi(Fe) (1.55+/-0.23 x 10(-6) m(3)/kg Fe) than the transfusion dependent beta-thal patients (1.16+/-0.25 x 10(-6) m(3)/kg Fe). Correlations were observed between chi(Fe) of the spleen tissue and the fraction of magnetic hyperfine split sextet in the (57)Fe Mössbauer spectra of the tissues at 78 K (Spearman rank order correlation r=-0.54, p=0.03) and between chi(Fe) of the spleen tissue and the fraction of doublet in the spectra at 5 K (r=0.58, p=0.02) indicating that chi(Fe) of the spleen tissue is related to the chemical speciation of the iron deposits in the tissue.

Quantitative MR imaging R2 relaxometry in elderly participants reporting memory loss.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: In Alzheimer disease (AD), elevated brain iron concentrations in gray matter suggest a disruption in iron homeostasis, while demyelination processes in white matter increase the water content. Our aim was to assess whether the transverse proton relaxation rate, or R2, an MR imaging parameter affected by changes in brain iron concentration and water content, was different in elderly participants with mild to severe levels of cognitive impairment compared with healthy controls. METHODS: Twelve elderly participants reporting memory problems and 11 healthy volunteers underwent single-spin-echo MR imaging in a 1.5T scanner, with subsequent neuropsychological testing. R2 data were collected from 14 brain regions in cortical and subcortical gray and white matter. Those with memory complaints were separated into 2 further subgroups: MC1 (no objective cognitive impairment) and MC2 (mild to severe objective cognitive impairment). RESULTS: Mean brain R2 values from the 11 controls correlated strongly (r = 0.94, P < .0001) with reference brain iron concentrations for healthy adults. R2 values in the MC1 and MC2 subgroups were significantly higher in the right temporal cortex and significantly lower in the left internal capsule, compared with healthy controls. R2 values in the MC2 subgroup were significantly lower in the left temporal and frontal white matter, compared with healthy controls. CONCLUSIONS: R2 differences between both subgroups and the healthy controls suggest iron has increased in the temporal cortex, and myelin has been lost from several white matter regions in those with memory complaints, consistent with incipient AD pathogenesis and biochemical data.

A low-spin iron complex in human melanoma and rat hepatoma cells and a high-spin iron(II) complex in rat hepatoma cells.

Human melanoma and rat hepatoma cells cultured in the presence of low concentrations (2.5 microM) of low-molecular-weight iron (Fe) chelates and Fe-transferrin complexes have been studied with 57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy. The spectra show that holoferritin is only a minor fraction of the total iron present in the cells. The major form of Fe was in a low-spin state unlike the high-spin Fe(III) found in ferritin. Only about 10% of the Fe could be attributed to ferritin. In addition, the hepatoma cells had a high-spin Fe(II) spectral component which made up about 20% of the Fe present.

A Mössbauer spectroscopic study of the form of iron in iron overload.

There are major differences in the temperature dependence of the Mössbauer spectra of ferritin and haemosiderin extracted from the organs of humans suffering from transfusional iron overload. Iron overload can also occur in animal systems as a result of artificial treatments or dietary factors. None of the animal systems which were investigated in the present study showed evidence in their Mössbauer spectra for the presence of the haemosiderin found in transfusional iron overload in humans. This suggests that the haemosiderin which occurs in the case of human transfusional iron overload may be specific to that situation.

Mössbauer spectroscopic studies of deproteinised, sub-fractionated and reconstituted ferritins: the relationship between haemosiderin and ferritin.

In a previous study of human haemosiderin and ferritin by a combination of Mössbauer spectroscopy and electron microscopy, it was observed that the Mössbauer spectra of haemosiderin showed a very different temperature dependence to those of ferritin. These differences were related to the superparamagnetic behaviour of small particles of a magnetic material and suggested that the magnetic anisotropy constant of the haemosiderin was considerably larger than that of the ferritin. In the present work, samples of ferritin have been examined by Mössbauer spectroscopy following partial deproteinisation, subfractionation, and reconstitution with and without phosphate, in order to investigate whether these procedures lead to changes in the magnetic anisotropy constant of the iron-containing cores. There is no evidence from the present data that changes in the protein shell, in the size of the iron-containing cores of ferritin, or in the phosphate content lead to any significant changes in the magnetic anisotropy constant, as obtained from the temperature dependence of the Mössbauer spectra. These results indicate that the different magnetic anisotropy constant observed in the case of human haemosiderin resulting from transfusional iron overload must arise from other significant differences in the composition or structure of the iron-containing cores.

The effect of histological processing on the form of iron in iron-loaded human tissues.

Iron-loaded human spleen tissue was immersed in neutral buffered formalin over a period of 200 days. Over the first 60 days, iron leached steadily from the tissue until 3% had been lost. Thereafter, no further iron leaching was detected. Comparisons of Mossbauer spectra of freeze-dried tissue and tissue freeze-dried after immersion in formalin for 200 days showed no evidence of chemical transformation of the iron remaining in the tissue. The spectra indicated a difference in the heme-iron to non-heme iron ratio between the two samples probably reflecting inhomogeneity of the ratio throughout the spleen as measured on the centimetre scale. Mossbauer spectra of freeze-dried samples of iron-loaded human liver and pancreas tissue were compared with those for samples from the same patient that had been processed by routine hospital procedures for histology and archival. These spectra showed no evidence for chemical transformation of the iron present in the tissues. These results demonstrate that it is feasible to use archived fixed and embedded human tissue samples for studies aimed at gauging the relative fraction of goethite-like hemosiderin present in the tissue.

The form of iron oxide deposits in thalassemic tissues varies between different groups of patients: a comparison between Thai beta-thalassemia/hemoglobin E patients and Australian beta-thalassemia patients.

Mössbauer spectra of 12 beta-thalassemia/hemoglobin E spleen samples from Thai patients who had not received multiple blood transfusions and chelation therapy and seven beta-thalassemia spleen samples from Australian patients who had received multiple blood transfusions and chelation therapy were recorded with sample temperatures of 78 K. Each spectrum was found to consist of a superposition of a relatively intense central doublet characteristic of high-spin Fe(III), a low intensity sextet of peaks due to magnetic hyperfine-field splitting, and occasionally a doublet that could be attributed to heme iron. A significant (P=0.01) difference (Kolmogorov-Smirnov statistic of 0.71) between the distributions of sextet signal intensity as a fraction (Fs) of the total non-heme iron Mössbauer spectral signal for the two groups of patients was detected. The distribution of Fs for the Thai beta-thalassemia/hemoglobin E spleens had a mean value of 0.128 (S.D. 0.035) while that for the Australian beta-thalassemia spleens had a mean of 0.27 (S.D. 0.12). No significant difference between the distributions of non-heme iron concentrations in the tissues for the two groups of patients was detected by atomic absorption spectrometry. This study shows that the Australian beta-thalassemia patients had a higher fraction of their non-heme spleen iron in a goethite-like form than the Thai beta-thalassemia/Hb E patients.

The effect of prolonged iron loading on the chemical form of iron oxide deposits in rat liver and spleen.

Female Porton rats were loaded with iron either by supplementing the diet with 2.5% carbonyl iron for up to 22 months (18 rats) or by regularly injecting rat blood cells intraperitoneally for up to 10 months (eight rats). 57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy of freeze-dried samples of liver and spleen was used to analyse the chemical forms of iron deposited in these tissues over the period of iron loading. A sextet signal in the Mössbauer spectra was identified as being due to a form of haemosiderin based on the structure of the mineral goethite. The spectral parameters of the sextet signal in the rat tissues indicate that the goethite-like haemosiderin particles are less crystalline than those found in iron-loaded human tissues. For the dietary-iron-loaded rat livers, the fraction (Fs) of the Mössbauer signal in the form of this sextet was found to increase significantly (from approx 0.04 to 0.09) with the age of the rats (r=0.77, P<0.0005). This indicates that the fraction of liver iron in the form of the goethite-like haemosiderin increases with age of the rat and hence with the duration of iron loading. In addition, Fs for these livers was found to increase significantly with the fraction of iron in non-parenchymal cells as measured by computer-assisted morphometric analysis of histological sections (r=0.71, P<0.005).

Low-frequency low-field magnetic susceptibility of ferritin and hemosiderin.

Low-frequency low-field magnetic susceptibility measurements were made on four samples of mammalian tissue iron oxide deposits. The samples comprised: (1) horse spleen ferritin; (2) dugong liver hemosiderin; (3) thalassemic human spleen ferritin; and (4) crude thalassemic human spleen hemosiderin. These samples were chosen because Mössbauer spectroscopic measurements on the samples indicated that they exemplified the variation in magnetic and mineral structure found in mammalian tissue iron oxide deposits. The AC-magnetic susceptometry yielded information on the magnetization kinetics of the four samples indicating samples 1, 2, and 3 to be superparamagnetic with values of around 10(11) s(-1) for the pre-exponential frequency factor in the Néel-Arrhenius equation and values for characteristic magnetic anisotropy energy barriers in the range 250-400 K. Sample 4 was indicated to be paramagnetic at all temperatures above 1.3 K. The AC-magnetic susceptometry data also indicated a larger magnetic anisotropy energy distribution in the dugong liver sample compared with samples 1 and 3 in agreement with previous Mössbauer spectroscopic data on these samples. At temperatures below 200 K, samples 1-3 exhibited Curie-Weiss law behavior, indicating weak particle-particle interactions tending to favor antiparallel alignment of the particle magnetic moments. These interactions were strongest for the dugong liver hemosiderin, possibly reflecting the smaller separation between mineral particles in this sample. This is the first magnetic susceptometry study of hemosiderin iron deposits and demonstrates that the AC-magnetic susceptometry technique is a fast and informative method of studying such tissue iron oxide deposits.

Mössbauer spectroscopic studies of the cores of human, limpet and bacterial ferritins.

Ferritin cores from human spleen, limpet (Patella vulgata) haemolymph and bacterial (Pseudomonas aeruginosa) cells have been investigated using 57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy. The Mössbauer spectra were recorded over a range of temperatures from 1.3 to 78 K, all the spectra are quadrupole-split doublets with similar quadrupole splittings and isomer shifts, characteristic of iron(III), while at sufficiently low temperatures the spectra of all the samples show well-resolved magnetic splitting. At intermediate temperatures, the spectra from the human ferritin exhibit typical superparamagnetic behaviour, while those from the bacterial ferritin show behaviour corresponding to a transition from a magnetically ordered to a paramagnetic state. The spectra from the limpet ferritin show a complex combination of the two effects. The results are discussed in terms of the magnetic behaviour of small particles. The data are consistent with magnetic ordering temperatures of about 3 and 30 K for the bacterial and limpet ferritin cores, respectively, while the data indicate that the magnetic ordering temperature for the human ferritin cores must be above 50 K. These differences are interpreted as being related to different densities of iron in the cores and to variations in the composition of the cores. The human ferritin cores are observed to have a mean superparamagnetic blocking temperature of about 40 K, while that of the limpet ferritin cores is about 25 K. This difference is interpreted as being due not only to different mean numbers of iron atoms in the two types of core but also to the higher degree of crystallinity in the cores of the human ferritin.

Analysis of EEG data from weak-field magnetic stimulation of mesial temporal lobe epilepsy patients.

Ten patients suffering from mesial temporal lobe epilepsy were exposed to weak, DC magnetic field stimulation following computer-controlled protocols established in previous studies. Poisson statistical analysis of the ten patients undergoing semi-invasive (foramen ovale) electrode monitoring reveals that for at least one experimental protocol, application of DC magnetic fields alters interictal epileptiform spike activity in five of ten patients. Similar results also have been observed in the analysis of both human and rat brains by employing weak, alternating magnetic field stimulation. Further study is necessary in order to optimize the magnetic field exposure protocol.

Detection limits for ferrimagnetic particle concentrations using magnetic resonance imaging based proton transverse relaxation rate measurements.

A clinical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system was used to measure proton transverse relaxation rates (R2) in agar gels with varying concentrations of ferrimagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles in a field strength of 1.5 T. The nanoparticles were prepared by coprecipitation of ferric and ferrous ions in the presence of either dextran or polyvinyl alcohol. The method of preparation resulted in loosely packed clusters (dextran) or branched chains (polyvinyl alcohol) of particles containing of the order of 600 and 400 particles, respectively. For both methods of particle preparation, concentrations of ferrimagnetic iron in agar gel less than 0.01 mg ml(-1) had no measurable effect on the value of R2 for the gel. The results indicate that MRI-based R2 measurements using 1.5 T clinical scanners are not quite sensitive enough to detect the very low concentrations of nanoparticulate biogenic magnetite reported in human brain tissue.

Quantitative mapping of transverse relaxivity (1/T(2)) in hepatic iron overload: a single spin-echo imaging methodology.

Recent research into the non-invasive assessment of hepatic iron concentrations using magnetic resonance imaging has shown that the proton transverse relaxivity (1/T(2)) varies linearly with liver iron concentration. However, the development of an image-based system for the assessment of hepatic iron distribution has been confounded by the presence of motion induced artifacts in the T(2)-weighted images. We report on the development of a single spin-echo imaging methodology that enables the generation of transverse relaxivity maps over the liver. A simple smoothing technique is used to accommodate the image intensity perturbations caused by abdominal motion. The relaxivity maps are consistent with the variation of iron concentration throughout the liver. A Parzen density estimate and histogram of the relaxivity distribution are generated to assist in the visual assessment of the degree and variability of T(2) shortening with liver iron loading. It was found that one or two Gaussian functions could be used to characterize the relaxivity distributions with a small number of parameters. We propose that this methodology may be used in the clinical setting to monitor hepatic iron concentrations in the advent of an accurate transverse relaxivity calibration curve.

A magnetic resonance imaging based method for measurement of tissue iron concentration in liver arterially embolized with ferrimagnetic particles designed for magnetic hyperthermia treatment of tumors.

Rabbit liver was loaded with ferrimagnetic particles of gamma -Fe2 O3 (designed for magnetic hyperthermia treatment of liver tumors) by injecting various doses of a suspension of the particles into the hepatic artery in vivo. Proton transverse relaxation rate (R(2)) images of the livers in vivo, excised, and dissected were generated from a series of single spin-echo images. Mean R(2) values for samples of ferrimagnetic-particle-loaded liver dissected into approximate 1 cm cubes were found to linearly correlate with tissue iron concentration over the range from approximately 0.1 to at least 2.7 mg Fe/g dry tissue when measured at room temperature. Changing the temperature of ferrimagnetic-particle-loaded samples of liver from 1 degrees C to 37 degrees C had no observable effect on tissue R(2) values. However, a small but significant decrease in R(2) was found for control samples containing no ferrimagnetic material on raising the temperature from 1 degrees C to 37 degrees C. Both chemically measured iron concentrations and mean R(2) values for rabbit livers with implanted tumors tended to be higher than those measured for tumor-free liver. This study indicates that tissue R(2) measurement and imaging by nuclear magnetic resonance may have a useful role in magnetic hyperthermia therapy protocols for the treatment of liver cancer.

Theoretical evaluation of cell membrane ion channel activation by applied magnetic fields.

This letter re-examines a recently published calculation of the forces exerted on a membrane ion channel by a cation passing through in the presence of an externally applied magnetic field. We show here, in contradiction to the originally published calculation, that the forces generated due to the Lorentz force of the magnetic field on the cation are negligible compared with the forces required to activate an ion channel protein conformation change associated with the gating of the channel.

Effects of prolonged iron loading in the rat using both parenteral and dietary routes.

Female Porton rats have been treated with either parenteral iron (intraperitoneal red cells) or dietary iron (carbonyl iron) for up to 12 months or 22 months respectively. In the parenteral iron loaded animals, the liver iron concentration rose from approximately 2 mg g-1 dry wt at 2 months to 21 mg g-1 dry wt at 12 months, while for the dietary iron loaded animals, this value rose from 14 to 48 mg g-1 dry wt at 12 months to over 60 mg g-1 dry wt after 22 months. In contrast, splenic iron concentrations rose more in the parenterally loaded animals (up to 66 mg g-1 dry wt after 12 months) than in the dietary loaded animals (approx. 34 mg g-1 dry wt after 24 months). This study yielded hepatic iron concentrations comparable to those seen in human thalassaemia patients with comparative low hepatotoxicity. Splenic iron concentrations in the parenteral iron loaded group generally exceeded those reported in thalassaemia. Iron concentrations derived from computer assisted morphometry of liver iron deposits correlated well (r = 0.88, p < 0.001) with chemical analysis data. The fraction of iron in the non-parenchymal cells correlated positively with the duration of iron loading (r = 0.86, p < 0.001).

Organ-specific crystalline structures of ferritin cores in beta-thalassemia/hemoglobin E.

The cores of ferritins isolated from different organs of human subjects with beta-thalassemia/hemoglobin E (beta-thal/HbE) disease have different size distributions and crystallinities depending on the source organ. These patients have not been treated by hypertransfusion regimen or iron chelation therapy. beta-Thal/HbE spleens and livers yield ferritin cores which are less crystalline than those isolated from normal spleens and livers, reflecting the more rapid deposition of iron in the diseased state. Ferritins isolated from the hearts and pancreases of beta-thal/HbE subjects were found to have larger, more crystalline cores than those from the beta-thal/HbE livers and spleens, possibly as a consequence of the role of the heart and pancreas as long-term iron deposition sites in this iron overload pathology.