Home › Research › Caregiving
Elevated cortical zinc in Alzheimer disease
Religa D, Strozyk D, Cherny RA, Volitakis I, Haroutunian V, Winblad B, Naslund J, Bush AI.. Neurology, 2006-07-01
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
Objective To determine whether changes in brain biometals in Alzheimer disease (AD) and in normal brain tissue are tandemly associated with amyloid beta-peptide (Abeta) burden and dementia severity. Methods The authors measured zinc, copper, iron, manganese, and aluminum and Abeta levels in postmortem neocortical tissue from patients with AD (n = 10), normal age-matched control subjects (n = 14), patients with schizophrenia (n = 26), and patients with schizophrenia with amyloid (n = 8). Severity of cognitive impairment was assessed with the Clinical Dementia Rating Scale (CDR). Results There was a significant, more than twofold, increase of tissue zinc in the AD-affected cortex compared with the other groups. Zinc levels increased with tissue amyloid levels. Zinc levels were significantly elevated in the most severely demented cases (CDR 4 to 5) and in cases that had an amyloid burden greater than 8 plaques/mm(2). Levels of other metals did not differ between groups. Conclusions Brain zinc accumulation is a prominent feature of advanced Alzheimer disease (AD) and is biochemically linked to brain amyloid beta-peptide accumulation and dementia severity in AD.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
APA 7th
Religa, D., Strozyk, D., Cherny, R. A., Volitakis, I., Haroutunian, V., Winblad, B., et al. (2006). Elevated cortical zinc in Alzheimer disease. Neurology. https://doi.org/10.1212/01.wnl.0000223644.08653.b5
Vancouver
Religa D, Strozyk D, Cherny RA, Volitakis I, Haroutunian V, Winblad B, et al. Elevated cortical zinc in Alzheimer disease. Neurology. 2006. doi:10.1212/01.wnl.0000223644.08653.b5. PMID: 16832080.
BibTeX
@article{religa2006-16832080,
author = {Religa, D. and Strozyk, D. and Cherny, R. A. and Volitakis, I. and Haroutunian, V. and Winblad, B. and Naslund, J. and Bush, A. I.},
title = {{Elevated cortical zinc in Alzheimer disease}},
journal = {Neurology},
year = {2006},
doi = {10.1212/01.wnl.0000223644.08653.b5},
pmid = {16832080},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1212/01.wnl.0000223644.08653.b5}
}
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record names 8 authors; APA and Vancouver show the first six, BibTeX and the downloads carry all of them. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
Key findings
- Objective To determine whether changes in brain biometals in Alzheimer disease (AD) and in normal brain tissue are tandemly associated with amyloid beta-peptide (Abeta) burden and dementia severity.
- Results There was a significant, more than twofold, increase of tissue zinc in the AD-affected cortex compared with the other groups.
- Zinc levels were significantly elevated in the most severely demented cases (CDR 4 to 5) and in cases that had an amyloid burden greater than 8 plaques/mm(2).
Why it matters
In postmortem brain tissue from 10 Alzheimer patients and other groups, zinc was more than doubled in the Alzheimer-affected cortex and rose with amyloid levels and dementia severity. This is a small autopsy study and does not show whether zinc causes Alzheimer's disease or could be a treatment target.
New to this subject? Start with our plain-English guide: Caregiving →
Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 48/100
Published in a leading specialty journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Neurology) |
| Journal's citation record | 4 / 4 | Neurology: journal h-index 525 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2006 — older than 20 years, still counted |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 5 / 7 | Cited 277 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 3 / 5 | 12.6 citations a year over 22 year(s) since 2006 |
| Impact for its field and year | 4 / 6 | Cited 10.2× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 2 / 6 | Cited by 3 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 2 / 4 | Cited 33 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 4 / 4 | Last-listed author Ashley Ian Bush: h-index 140 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 1 / 3 | Karolinska Institutet: institution h-index 1,477 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 0 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 1 institution(s) in 1 country — scores zero (affiliation lists can be incomplete) |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 16832080) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 48 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
May need a subscription OpenAlex found no free copy of the full text (checked 6 Feb 1020), so the publisher may charge for it. The PubMed abstract is free.
Studies this one cites
Referenced by this study and also in the alzhub library, so you can read them here.
Later studies that cite this one
3 studies in the alzhub library list this one in their references.
Related studies in Caregiving
Also tagged “metals-copper-zinc-and-amyloid”
4 studies in the library carry the topic tag “metals-copper-zinc-and-amyloid”; these are this study's neighbours in a fixed, alphabetical-by-hash tour of them, not the closest in content. All 4 tagged studies.