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2950340 
Journal Article 
Liver Manganese In Hemochromatosis 
Altstatt, LB; Pollack, S; Feldman, MH; Reba, RC; Crosby, WH 
1967 
1 
Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine
ISSN: 0037-9727
EISSN: 1525-1373 
NIOSH/00156882 
124 
2 
353-355 
English 
6019870 
Manganese (7439965) in liver of hemochromatosis patients was studied. Twenty dying male patients, over 35 years old, with liver cirrhosis, liver hemosiderosis, iron (7439896) deposition in other tissues, no history of multiple transfusions, and no history of excess iron ingestion had hepatic samples taken. Twenty male comparisons, over 35 years old, with autopsy diagnosis of myocardial infarction, no history or autopsy findings of liver disease, no liver hemosiderosis, no iron deposition in other tissues, no history of hematological disorders or multiple transfusions, and no history of excess iron ingestion had liver samples taken. Neutron activation analysis was used to estimate the manganese concentration of the dried samples. In a thermal reactor, manganese-55 in both specimens and standards was proportionally transmuted to manganese-56 by neutron capture. Gamma emissions of specimens and standards were counted. The manganese concentration was computed by comparing gamma emission of samples and standards. Hemochromatic livers were analyzed for iron content and plotted against the value for manganese of respective tissues. The mean concentration of liver manganese was significantly higher in hemochromatosis samples than in comparisons, 4.25 and 2.13 micrograms per gram dry tissue, respectively. The manganese and iron plot showed a significant correlation between manganese and iron content for hemochromatosis. There was no dependent relationship between age of patient at death and manganese concentration in the liver. The authors conclude that hemochromatosis is associated with increased liver manganese.