Investigation of age-related variations in biogenic magnetite levels in the human hippocampus.

The magnetic properties of human hippocampal tissue from 23 subjects (15 epilepsy patients and eight cadavers with no neuropathology) were analysed and tissue concentrations of magnetic material were calculated. The biogenic iron oxide magnetite (Fe(3)O(4)) is the dominant source of magnetisation in the tissue. Analysis of the group as a whole revealed no significant trend towards either increasing or decreasing magnetite concentration with age. Separate analysis of male and female subjects, however, reveals a trend towards increasing magnetite concentration with age in males. This trend is not seen in females and may have implications for iron metabolism and neurological disorders associated with disruptions in normal iron homeostasis.