A post-mortem study of the anatomical region differences and age-related changes on Ca and Mg levels in the human brain

Abstract

Calcium and magnesium levels in 14 different areas of the human brain [frontal cortex, superior and middle temporal gyri, caudate nucleus, putamen, globus pallidus, cingulated gyrus, hippocampus, inferior parietal lobule, visual cortex of the occipital lobe, midbrain, pons-locus coeruleus, medulla and cerebellum-dentate nucleus] of adult individuals (n = 42; 71 +/- 12, range: 50-103 years old) without a known history of neurodegenerative, neurological or psychiatric disorder were studied.

Considering the mean values for the 14 regions, Mg was present at ca. 2.3-fold higher levels than Ca (mean +/-: 527 +/- 34 mu g/g versus 226 +/- 53 mu g/g). Calcium distribution within the brain showed to be quite heterogeneous: highest levels were found in the occipital (306 +/- 156 mu g/g) and frontal cortex (287 +/- 78 ug/g), while lowest levels were found in the medulla (186 +/- 70 mu g/g) and cerebellum (145 +/- 42 mu g/g). Higher Ca levels were found in women than in men (248 +/- 59 mu g/g versus 213 +/- 46 mu g/g; p < 0.05). A tendency for Ca levels to increase with age in all studied brain regions and in both genders was also observed. On the contrary, Mg presented a highly homogeneous distribution and seems to remain quite unchanged irrespective of aging.