Abstract
Because of the intrinsic ability of iron to catalyze the formation of reactive oxygen species, it has been associated with oxidative stress and neurodegenerative diseases. However, iron deficiency (ID) also negatively impacts various functions of the brain, suggesting that iron plays an important physiological role in neuronal processes such as myelination, synaptogenesis, behavior and synaptic plasticity (SP). ID not only produces changes in the hippocampus, striatum, amygdale or prefrontal cortex, it also affects the interaction among these systems. In both humans and rodents, the perturbations of these structures are associated to cognitive deficits. These cognitive alterations have been well correlated with changes in neural plasticity, the possible cellular substrate of memory and learning. Given that SP is strongly affected by early ID and the lasting-neurological consequences remain even after ID has been corrected, it is important to prevent ID as well as to seek effective therapeutic interventions that reduce or reverse the long-term effects of the ID in the nervous system. This review will give an overview of the literature on the effects of iron deficit in neuronal functions such as behavior, neurotransmission and SP. We also discuss our recent data about the possible oxidative effect of iron on the mechanisms involved in neural plasticity.
Similar content being viewed by others
Abbreviations
- ROS:
-
Reactive oxygen species
- ID:
-
Iron deficiency
- SP:
-
Synaptic plasticity
- CNS:
-
Central nervous system
- PFC:
-
Prefrontal cortex
- DMT1:
-
Divalent metal transporter 1
- DFO:
-
Desferrioxamine
- LTP:
-
Long-term potentiation
- PPF:
-
Paired-pulse facilitation
- ISO:
-
Isoproterenol
- NMDAR:
-
N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor
- Ry:
-
Ryanodine
- RyR:
-
Ry receptor
- CICR:
-
Calcium-induced calcium release
- mEPSCs:
-
Miniature excitatory postsynaptic currents
- ACSF:
-
Artificial cerebrospinal fluid
- fEPSP:
-
Field excitatory post-synaptic potential
- LIP:
-
Labile iron pool
- DCDHF-DA:
-
2′,7′-dichlorodihydrofluorescein-diacetate
References
Agaoglu L, Torun O, Unuvar E, Sefil Y, Demir D (2007) Effects of iron deficiency anemia on cognitive function in children. Arzneimittelforschung 57:426–430
Aracena-Parks P, Goonasekera SA, Gilman CP, Dirksen RT, Hidalgo C, Hamilton SL (2006) Identification of cysteines involved in S-nitrosylation, S-glutathionylation, and oxidation to disulfides in ryanodine receptor type 1. J Biol Chem 281:40354–40368
Beard J (2007) Recent evidence from human and animal studies regarding iron status and infant development. J Nutr 137:524S–530S
Beard JL (2008) Why iron deficiency is important in infant development. J Nutr 138:2534–2536
Beard JL, Connor JR (2003) Iron status and neural functioning. Annu Rev Nutr 23:41–58
Beard JL, Wiesinger JA, Jones BC (2006) Cellular iron concentrations directly affect the expression levels of norepinephrine transporter in PC12 cells and rat brain tissue. Brain Res 1092:47–58
Boric K, Munoz P, Gallagher M, Kirkwood A (2008) Potential adaptive function for altered long-term potentiation mechanisms in aging hippocampus. J Neurosci 28:8034–8039
Brunette KE, Tran PV, Wobken JD, Carlson ES, Georgieff MK (2010) Gestational and neonatal iron deficiency alters apical dendrite structure of CA1 pyramidal neurons in adult rat hippocampus. Dev Neurosci 32:238–248
Burhans MS, Dailey C, Beard Z, Wiesinger J, Murray-Kolb L, Jones BC, Beard JL (2005) Iron deficiency: differential effects on monoamine transporters. Nutr Neurosci 8:31–38
Cao G, Harris KM (2011) Developmental regulation of the late phase of long-term potentiation (L-LTP) and metaplasticity in hippocampal area CA1 of the rat. J Neurophysiol 107:902–912
Carlson ES, Tkac I, Magid R, O’Connor MB, Andrews NC, Schallert T, Gunshin H, Georgieff MK, Petryk A (2009) Iron is essential for neuron development and memory function in mouse hippocampus. J Nutr 139:672–679
Carlson ES, Fretham SJ, Unger E, O’Connor M, Petryk A, Schallert T, Rao R, Tkac I, Georgieff MK (2010) Hippocampus specific iron deficiency alters competition and cooperation between developing memory systems. J Neurodev Disord 2:133–143
Castillo PE, Chiu CQ, Carroll RC (2011) Long-term plasticity at inhibitory synapses. Curr Opin Neurobiol 21:328–338
Cheah JH, Kim SF, Hester LD, Clancy KW, Patterson SE 3rd, Papadopoulos V, Snyder SH (2006) NMDA receptor-nitric oxide transmission mediates neuronal iron homeostasis via the GTPase Dexras1. Neuron 51:431–440
Dalley JW, Cardinal RN, Robbins TW (2004) Prefrontal executive and cognitive functions in rodents: neural and neurochemical substrates. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 28:771–784
Dallman PR, Schwartz HC (1965) Myoglobin and cytochrome response during repair of iron deficiency in the rat. J Clin Invest 44:1631–1638
Erikson KM, Jones BC, Beard JL (2000) Iron deficiency alters dopamine transporter functioning in rat striatum. J Nutr 130:2831–2837
Erikson KM, Jones BC, Hess EJ, Zhang Q, Beard JL (2001) Iron deficiency decreases dopamine D1 and D2 receptors in rat brain. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 69:409–418
Felt BT, Beard JL, Schallert T, Shao J, Aldridge JW, Connor JR, Georgieff MK, Lozoff B (2006) Persistent neurochemical and behavioral abnormalities in adulthood despite early iron supplementation for perinatal iron deficiency anemia in rats. Behav Brain Res 171:261–270
Feng J, Zhou Y, Campbell SL, Le T, Li E, Sweatt JD, Silva AJ, Fan G (2010) Dnmt1 and Dnmt3a maintain DNA methylation and regulate synaptic function in adult forebrain neurons. Nat Neurosci 13:423–430
Gelinas JN, Nguyen PV (2005) Beta-adrenergic receptor activation facilitates induction of a protein synthesis-dependent late phase of long-term potentiation. J Neurosci 25:3294–3303
Georgieff MK (2011) Long-term brain and behavioral consequences of early iron deficiency. Nutr Rev 69(Suppl 1):S43–S48
Gewirtz JC, Hamilton KL, Babu MA, Wobken JD, Georgieff MK (2008) Effects of gestational iron deficiency on fear conditioning in juvenile and adult rats. Brain Res 1237:195–203
Goto Y, Grace AA (2005) Dopaminergic modulation of limbic and cortical drive of nucleus accumbens in goal-directed behavior. Nat Neurosci 8:805–812
Grantham-McGregor S, Ani C (2001) A review of studies on the effect of iron deficiency on cognitive development in children. J Nutr 131:649S–666S; discussion 666S–668S
Haeger P, Alvarez A, Leal N, Adasme T, Nunez MT, Hidalgo C (2009) Increased hippocampal expression of the divalent metal transporter 1 (DMT1) mRNA variants 1B and +IRE and DMT1 protein after NMDA-receptor stimulation or spatial memory training. Neurotox Res 17:238–247
Herguner S, Kelesoglu FM, Tanidir C, Copur M (2011) Ferritin and iron levels in children with autistic disorder. Eur J Pediatr 171(1):143–146
Hernandez-Martinez C, Canals J, Aranda N, Ribot B, Escribano J, Arija V (2011) Effects of iron deficiency on neonatal behavior at different stages of pregnancy. Early Hum Dev 87:165–169
Hu D, Cao P, Thiels E, Chu CT, Wu GY, Oury TD, Klann E (2007) Hippocampal long-term potentiation, memory, and longevity in mice that overexpress mitochondrial superoxide dismutase. Neurobiol Learn Mem 87:372–384
Jorgenson LA, Wobken JD, Georgieff MK (2003) Perinatal iron deficiency alters apical dendritic growth in hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons. Dev Neurosci 25:412–420
Jorgenson LA, Sun M, O’Connor M, Georgieff MK (2005) Fetal iron deficiency disrupts the maturation of synaptic function and efficacy in area CA1 of the developing rat hippocampus. Hippocampus 15:1094–1102
Kehrer JP (2000) The Haber-Weiss reaction and mechanisms of toxicity. Toxicology 149:43–50
Kemmerling U, Munoz P, Muller M, Sanchez G, Aylwin ML, Klann E, Carrasco MA, Hidalgo C (2007) Calcium release by ryanodine receptors mediates hydrogen peroxide-induced activation of ERK and CREB phosphorylation in N2a cells and hippocampal neurons. Cell Calcium 41:491–502
Kishida KT, Klann E (2007) Sources and targets of reactive oxygen species in synaptic plasticity and memory. Antioxid Redox Signal 9:233–244
Lisman JE, Grace AA (2005) The hippocampal-VTA loop: controlling the entry of information into long-term memory. Neuron 46:703–713
Lozoff B (2007) Iron deficiency and child development. Food Nutr Bull 28:S560–S571
Lozoff B (2011) Early iron deficiency has brain and behavior effects consistent with dopaminergic dysfunction. J Nutr 141:740S–746S
Lozoff B, Georgieff MK (2006) Iron deficiency and brain development. Semin Pediatr Neurol 13:158–165
Lozoff B, Jimenez E, Hagen J, Mollen E, Wolf AW (2000) Poorer behavioral and developmental outcome more than 10 years after treatment for iron deficiency in infancy. Pediatrics 105:E51
Lozoff B, Beard J, Connor J, Barbara F, Georgieff M, Schallert T (2006) Long-lasting neural and behavioral effects of iron deficiency in infancy. Nutr Rev 64:S34–S43; discussion S72–S91
Lu YF, Hawkins RD (2002) Ryanodine receptors contribute to cGMP-induced late-phase LTP and CREB phosphorylation in the hippocampus. J Neurophysiol 88:1270–1278
Lukowski AF, Koss M, Burden MJ, Jonides J, Nelson CA, Kaciroti N, Jimenez E, Lozoff B (2010) Iron deficiency in infancy and neurocognitive functioning at 19 years: evidence of long-term deficits in executive function and recognition memory. Nutr Neurosci 13:54–70
Lutter CK (2008) Iron deficiency in young children in low-income countries and new approaches for its prevention. J Nutr 138:2523–2528
Madan N, Rusia U, Sikka M, Sharma S, Shankar N (2011) Developmental and neurophysiologic deficits in iron deficiency in children. Indian J Pediatr 78:58–64
Massaad CA, Klann E (2010) Reactive oxygen species in the regulation of synaptic plasticity and memory. Antioxid Redox Signal 14:2013–2054
McEchron MD, Cheng AY, Liu H, Connor JR, Gilmartin MR (2005) Perinatal nutritional iron deficiency permanently impairs hippocampus-dependent trace fear conditioning in rats. Nutr Neurosci 8:195–206
McEchron MD, Alexander DN, Gilmartin MR, Paronish MD (2008) Perinatal nutritional iron deficiency impairs hippocampus-dependent trace eyeblink conditioning in rats. Dev Neurosci 30:243–254
McEchron MD, Goletiani CJ, Alexander DN (2010) Perinatal nutritional iron deficiency impairs noradrenergic-mediated synaptic efficacy in the CA1 area of rat hippocampus. J Nutr 140:642–647
Munoz P, Zavala G, Castillo K, Aguirre P, Hidalgo C, Nunez MT (2006) Effect of iron on the activation of the MAPK/ERK pathway in PC12 neuroblastoma cells. Biol Res 39:189–190
Munoz P, Humeres A, Elgueta C, Kirkwood A, Hidalgo C, Nunez MT (2011) Iron mediates N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor-dependent stimulation of calcium-induced pathways and hippocampal synaptic plasticity. J Biol Chem 286:13382–13392
Pavlopoulos E, Trifilieff P, Chevaleyre V, Fioriti L, Zairis S, Pagano A, Malleret G, Kandel ER (2011) Neuralized1 activates CPEB3: a function for nonproteolytic ubiquitin in synaptic plasticity and memory storage. Cell 47:1369–1383
Pokorny J, Yamamoto T (1981) Postnatal ontogenesis of hippocampal CA1 area in rats. I. Development of dendritic arborisation in pyramidal neurons. Brain Res Bull 7:113–120
Poldrack RA, Packard MG (2003) Competition among multiple memory systems: converging evidence from animal and human brain studies. Neuropsychologia 41:245–251
Raman L, Tkac I, Ennis K, Georgieff MK, Gruetter R, Rao R (2005) In vivo effect of chronic hypoxia on the neurochemical profile of the developing rat hippocampus. Brain Res Dev Brain Res 156:202–209
Rao R, Georgieff MK (2007) Iron in fetal and neonatal nutrition. Semin Fetal Neonatal Med 12:54–63
Rao R, Tkac I, Schmidt AT, Georgieff MK (2011) Fetal and neonatal iron deficiency causes volume loss and alters the neurochemical profile of the adult rat hippocampus. Nutr Neurosci 14:59–65
Rothman DL, Behar KL, Hyder F, Shulman RG (2003) In vivo NMR studies of the glutamate neurotransmitter flux and neuroenergetics: implications for brain function. Annu Rev Physiol 65:401–427
Salazar J, Mena N, Hunot S, Prigent A, Alvarez-Fischer D, Arredondo M, Duyckaerts C, Sazdovitch V, Zhao L, Garrick LM et al (2008) Divalent metal transporter 1 (DMT1) contributes to neurodegeneration in animal models of Parkinson’s disease. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 105:18578–18583
Savonenko A, Munoz P, Melnikova T, Wang Q, Liang X, Breyer RM, Montine TJ, Kirkwood A, Andreasson K (2009) Impaired cognition, sensorimotor gating, and hippocampal long-term depression in mice lacking the prostaglandin E2 EP2 receptor. Exp Neurol 217:63–73
Schmidt AT, Waldow KJ, Grove WM, Salinas JA, Georgieff MK (2007) Dissociating the long-term effects of fetal/neonatal iron deficiency on three types of learning in the rat. Behav Neurosci 121:475–482
Schmidt AT, Alvarez GC, Grove WM, Rao R, Georgieff MK (2011) Early iron deficiency enhances stimulus-response learning of adult rats in the context of competing spatial information. Dev Cogn Neurosci. doi:10.1016/j.dcn.2011.07.014
Sesack SR, Carr DB, Omelchenko N, Pinto A (2003) Anatomical substrates for glutamate-dopamine interactions: evidence for specificity of connections and extrasynaptic actions. Ann N Y Acad Sci 1003:36–52
Shukla A, Agarwal KN, Chansuria JP, Taneja V (1989) Effect of latent iron deficiency on 5-hydroxytryptamine metabolism in rat brain. J Neurochem 52:730–735
Shumyatsky GP, Malleret G, Shin RM, Takizawa S, Tully K, Tsvetkov E, Zakharenko SS, Joseph J, Vronskaya S, Yin D et al (2005) stathmin, a gene enriched in the amygdala, controls both learned and innate fear. Cell 123:697–709
Siddappa AM, Georgieff MK, Wewerka S, Worwa C, Nelson CA, Deregnier RA (2004) Iron deficiency alters auditory recognition memory in newborn infants of diabetic mothers. Pediatr Res 55:1034–1041
Smith MA, Zhu X, Tabaton M, Liu G, McKeel DW Jr, Cohen ML, Wang X, Siedlak SL, Dwyer BE, Hayashi T et al (2010) Increased iron and free radical generation in preclinical Alzheimer disease and mild cognitive impairment. J Alzheimers Dis 19:363–372
Steward O, Falk PM (1991) Selective localization of polyribosomes beneath developing synapses: a quantitative analysis of the relationships between polyribosomes and developing synapses in the hippocampus and dentate gyrus. J Comp Neurol 314:545–557
Stoltzfus RJ, Kvalsvig JD, Chwaya HM, Montresor A, Albonico M, Tielsch JM, Savioli L, Pollitt E (2001) Effects of iron supplementation and anthelmintic treatment on motor and language development of preschool children in Zanzibar: double blind, placebo controlled study. BMJ 323:1389–1393
Todorich B, Pasquini JM, Garcia CI, Paez PM, Connor JR (2009) Oligodendrocytes and myelination: the role of iron. Glia 57:467–478
Tran PV, Carlson ES, Fretham SJ, Georgieff MK (2008) Early-life iron deficiency anemia alters neurotrophic factor expression and hippocampal neuron differentiation in male rats. J Nutr 138:2495–2501
Valavanidis A, Vlahoyianni T, Fiotakis K (2005) Comparative study of the formation of oxidative damage marker 8-hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) adduct from the nucleoside 2′-deoxyguanosine by transition metals and suspensions of particulate matter in relation to metal content and redox reactivity. Free Radic Res 39:1071–1081
Ward KL, Tkac I, Jing Y, Felt B, Beard J, Connor J, Schallert T, Georgieff MK, Rao R (2007) Gestational and lactational iron deficiency alters the developing striatal metabolome and associated behaviors in young rats. J Nutr 137:1043–1049
Whitlock JR, Heynen AJ, Shuler MG, Bear MF (2006) Learning induces long-term potentiation in the hippocampus. Science 313:1093–1097
Yadav D, Chandra J (2011) Iron deficiency: beyond anemia. Indian J Pediatr 78:65–72
Acknowledgments
We thank G. Barrientos for critically reading the manuscript. This work was supported by Millennium Scientific Initiative Grant ICM (P09-022-F) and COPEC-UC foundation (8C055).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Muñoz, P., Humeres, A. Iron deficiency on neuronal function. Biometals 25, 825–835 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10534-012-9550-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10534-012-9550-x