Iron in the brain may play an important role in the development of Alzheimer’s disease, research has shown.

The findings suggest that lowering iron levels, possibly with a drug, could delay progression from mild loss of memory and thinking ability to Alzheimer’s.

But experts said the evidence was not strong enough to support the idea of a diagnostic iron test for individuals at risk of the disease.

Scientists measured levels of ferritin, an iron storage protein, in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of 302 people in their seventies. They found that higher amounts of iron predicted poorer mental performance in healthy participants, those with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer’s patients.

We need to see much more research into areas such as this

Higher ferritin levels were associated with speedier progression from MCI to Alzheimer’s.

Reporting their findings in the journal Nature Communications, the researchers led by Ashley Bush, from the University of Melbourne in Australia, wrote: “Lowering CSF ferritin, as might be expected from a drug like deferiprone, could conceivably delay MCI conversion to AD [Alzheimer’s disease] by as much as three years.”

The research also linked raised brain iron levels to the gene variant APOE-4, which increases the risk of Alzheimer’s. People with the gene were more likely to have higher levels of ferritin in their brains.

“These findings reveal that elevated brain iron adversely impacts on AD progression and introduce brain iron elevation as a possible mechanism for APOE-4 being the major genetic risk factor for AD,” the scientists wrote.