We have conducted a case-control study in order to test for an association between 8 intragenic polymorphisms of 5 iron-related genes (transferrin, transferrin receptor1, HFE, frataxin and lactoferrin) and Parkinson disease. Comparison of genotypes and allele frequencies did not differ significantly between cases and controls for all studied polymorphisms except the G258S transferrin polymorphism, for which a higher frequency of the G allele was found among cases (p=0.033), particularly among cases with onset older than 60 (p=0.0017) and with negative family history (p=0.022). This finding suggests that genetic variations in the control of iron metabolism may contribute to the pathogenesis of the disease.

The mechanisms behind the transmission of chromosomal aberrations (CA) remain unclear, despite a large body of work and major technological advances in chromosome identification. We reevaluated the transmission of CA to second- and third-division cells by telomere and centromere (TC) staining followed by M-FISH. We scored CA in lymphocytes of healthy donors after in vitro irradiation and those of cancer patients treated by radiation therapy more than 12 years before. Our data demonstrate, for the first time, that dicentric chromosomes (DCs) decreased by approximately 50% per division. DCs with two centromeres in close proximity were more efficiently transmitted, representing 70% of persistent DCs in ≥M3 cells. Only 1/3 of acentric chromosomes (ACs), ACs with four telomeres, and interstitial ACs, were paired in M2 cells and associated with specific DCs configurations. In lymphocytes of cancer patients, 82% of detected DCs were characterized by these specific configurations. Our findings demonstrate the high stability of DCs with two centromeres in close proximity during cell division. The frequency of telomere deletion increased during cell cycle progression playing an important role in chromosomal instability. These findings could be exploited in the follow-up of exposed populations.