Men's Dementia Risk May be Doubled by Common Gene Variant
Scientists have now identified a genetic variant that causes male carriers to be twice as likely to develop dementia at some point in their lifetime, compared to non-carriers...
This gene encodes for a protein that helps control the levels of iron in the body. The findings showed that one in three individuals carry one copy of a HFS variant called H63D, and one in 36 individuals carry two copies of this variant. Men who carry two copies of this variant are more than twice as likely to develop dementia, but this was not true for women who carried two copies. The findings have been reported in Neuron.
Fascinating.
The use of iron as a cofactor in basic metabolic pathways is essential to both pathogenic microorganisms and their hosts. It is also a pivotal component of the innate immune response through its role in the generation of toxic oxygen and nitrogen intermediates. During evolution, the shared requirement of micro- and macroorganisms for this important nutrient has shaped the pathogen–host relationship. Here, we discuss how pathogens compete with the host for iron, and also how the host uses iron to counteract this threat.
edit : bonus article
Microscopic heist: How lung bacteria forge weapons to steal iron and survive
Newly discovered natural compounds from Pandoraea bacteria influence the lung microbiome by competing for iron
