Multi-element analysis of trace element levels in human autopsy tissues by using inductively coupled atomic emission spectrometry technique (ICP-AES).

Autopsy tissue samples from the brain front lobe, cerebellum, heart, kidney (cortex and medulla), liver, pancreas, spleen and ovary were analysed for AL, B, Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, Se, Sr and Zn in 30 (17 women and 13 men) subjects ranging in age from 17 to 96 years at Haukeland University Hospital in Norway. The tissues were selected from macroscopically normal organs and samples were handled according to guidelines recommended to avoid contamination in the pre-analytical phase. Concentration of the trace elements were determined by the inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry technique (ICP-AES). In most tissues the concentrations of the essential trace elements followed the order Fe> Zn> Cu> Mn> Se> Cr> Co except in the ovary where Se was higher than Mn. The liver was the major site of deposition for Co, Cu and Mn as well as the spleen for Co, brain front lobe for Cu and pancreas for Mn. Ba, Sr and Ni built up in the ovary foLLowed by the kidney. Older subjects accumulated Ba and Sr in most tissues, whereas Al accumulated in the kidney cortex and Cd in the brain cerebellum. Generally males had higher concentrations of trace elements in the different tissue sampLes than females with the exception of Mn in the brain front lobe and heart and Sr in the liver. ICP-AES is a useful method to assess the concentration and the profiLe of trace elements in human autopsy tissues.

Correlations of trace element levels within and between different normal autopsy tissues analyzed by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES).

Imbalance in trace metal metabolism may lead to metal interactions that may be of patho-physiological importance. Knowledge of the relation between trace metals in normal tissues is needed to assess abnormal deviations associated with disease. In this study correlations between Cu, Co, Cr, Fe, Mn, Ni, Se, Zn, Al, Ba, Cd, Pb and Sr within the same and between 6 different, normal autopsy tissues were determined using Spearman rank correlation analysis based on analytical data obtained by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES). Fe-Co were correlated in most tissues. Cu-Mn, Zn-Cu, Zn-Mn and Zn-Cd were highly correlated in the kidney medulla. Ni-Ni, Sr-Sr and Cd-Cd were correlated between several tissues, while Fe-Fe, Zn-Zn and Cu-Cu were correlated between kidney cortex and medulla. Mn-Mn was highly correlated between the liver and brain front lobe, cerebellum and heart. High correlations were found for Ni-Co and for Se-Mn between the kidney cortex and brain front lobe and pancreas respectively. Inverse correlations were found for Se-Cd between kidney cortex and cerebellum, for Se-Cd and Cd-Zn between kidney medulla and heart, for Co-Sr and Fe-Sr between the liver and kidney cortex and heart respectively, and for Sr-Mn between kidney medulla and pancreas. A large number of trace elements are statistically correlated within and between different, normal tissues. Knowledge of these correlations may contribute to increase the understanding of kinetic interactions of trace metals in the body and the role of such interactions in normal and disturbed trace metal metabolism.