Researchers in South Korea report that zinc may contribute to brain deposits or plaques linked to Alzheimer's disease, and suggest the disease might be treated by disrupting the interaction between zinc and the proteins that form plaques.

The study included two types of mice -- one prone to develop the plaques, and another that lacked the zinc-transporting gene, called ZnT3.

A pool of zinc that exists in the brain, called synaptic zinc, is released by nerve cells -- but only if the zinc-transporting gene is present.

Results of the research, appearing in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, revealed that mice who lacked the zinc transporter gene developed fewer and smaller plaques.

Researchers also found that, with age, female mice that carried the zinc-transporting gene developed more synaptic zinc and plaques than the males. This difference, however, was not observed in mice of either sex that lacked the gene.

Other Sources: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences