ICP-MS Multi-Elemental Analysis of the Human Meninges Collected from Sudden Death Victims in South-Eastern Poland

Abstract

Metals perform many important physiological functions in the human body. The distribution of elements in different tissues is not uniform. Moreover, some structures can be the site of an accumulation of essential or toxic metals, leading to multi-directional intracellular damage. In the nervous system, these disorders are especially dangerous. Metals dyshomeostasis has been linked to a variety of neurological disorders which end up leading to permanent injuries. The multi-elemental composition of the human brain is still the subject of numerous investigations and debates. In this study, for the first time, the meninges, i.e., the dura mater and the arachnoid, were examined for their elemental composition by means of inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Tissue samples were collected post mortem from those who died suddenly as a result of suicide (n = 20) or as a result of injuries after an accident (n = 20). The interactions between 51 elements in both groups showed mainly weak positive correlations, which dominated the arachnoid mater compared to the dura mater. The study showed differences in the distribution of some elements within the meninges in the studied groups. The significant differences concerned mainly metals from the lanthanide family (Ln), macroelements (Na, K, Ca, Mg), a few micronutrients (Co), and toxic cadmium (Cd). The performed evaluation of the elemental distribution in the human meninges sheds new light on the trace metals metabolism in the central nervous system, although we do not yet fully understand the role of the human meninges.

Linking Metallic Micronutrients and Toxic Xenobiotics to Atherosclerosis and Fatty Liver Disease—Postmortem ICP-MS Analysis of Selected Human Tissues

“…In our study, significantly higher concentrations of lanthanides (gallium 71 Ga, lanthanum 139 La, cerium 140 Ce, praseodymium 141 Pr, neodymium 146 Nd, samarium 147 Sm, 153 Eu, 157 Gd, 159 Tb, dysprosium 163 Dy, 166 Er, ytterbium 172 Yb), and trace elements (cobalt 59 Co, 66 Zn, 78 Se), but also toxic elements, such as 27 Al, vanadium 51 V, 111 Cd, arsenic 75 As, 201 Hg, 202 Hg, and 208 Pb were detected in the liver tissue, compared to their levels in the brain.…”

“…The sample preparation procedure was the same as previously published [51][52][53]. In brief, 7 mL of 69% suprapur nitric acid HNO 3 (Baker, Radnor, PA, USA) was added to approximately 0.3-0.5 g of tissue sample, followed by heating to 190 • C in closed Teflon containers in the microwave mineralisation system Multiwave 5000 (Anton Paar, Graz, Austria).…”

Assessment of the Concentration of 51 Elements in the Liver and in Various Parts of the Human Brain—Profiling of the Mineral Status

“…The concentration of rare earth elements in the tissues reported in this paper is similar to our study and is less than 1 ng g −1 . In the study by Baj et al [ 32 ], the meninges, i.e., the dura mater and the arachnoid, were analyzed for the first time for their elemental composition. Significant differences were found in metals from the lanthanide family.…”

“…The procedure of the human tissues pre-treatment was proposed previously [ 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 ]. In brief, wet mineralization of each 0.3–0.5 g sample was performed via the addition of 7 mL of 69% HNO 3 ultrapure for trace metal analysis (Baker, Radnor, PA, USA), followed by heating to 190 °C in closed Teflon containers in the microwave mineralization system Multiwave 5000 (Anton Paar, Graz, Austria).…”

“…Our previous work in the field of metallomics has investigated the accumulation of seven trace elements, including Ca, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, K and Mg, Mn, Na, Zn, and Se in the liver of people with alcohol use disorder (AUD) [ 30 , 31 ], the elemental composition of the meninges, i.e., dura mater and arachnoid [ 32 ], the optic chiasm by ICP-MS [ 33 ] and the aqueous humor of cataract patients [ 34 , 35 , 36 ]. Other authors have also used ICP-MS to analyze selected metals.…”