Magnetic resonance microscopy of iron in the basal forebrain cholinergic structures of the aged mouse lemur

Increased non-heme iron levels in the brain of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients are higher than the levels observed in age matched normal subjects. Iron level in structures that are highly relevant for AD, such as the basal forebrain, can be detected post mortem with histochemistry. Because of the small size of these structures, in vivo MR detection is very difficult at conventional field magnets (1.5 and 4 T). In this study, we observed iron deposits with histochemistry and MR microscopy at 11.7 T in the brain of the mouse lemur, a strepsirhine primate which is the only known animal model of aging presenting both senile plaques and neurofibrillary degeneration. We also examined a related species, the dwarf lemur. Iron distribution in aged animals (8 to 15 years old) agrees with previous findings in humans. In addition, the high iron levels of the globus pallidus is paralleled by a comparable contrast in basal forebrain cholinergic structures. Because of the enhancement of iron-dependent contrast with increasing field strength, microscopic magnetic resonance imaging of the mouse lemur appears to be an ideal model system for studying in vivo iron changes in the basal forebrain in relation to aging and neurodegeneration.