Element speciation offers deeper insight into the molecular mechanisms of disease by determining element species pattern. Thus, having great potential for investigating neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and mild cognitive impairment, speciation is increasingly considered in epidemiological or clinical neurological studies. This review analyses recent speciation findings in neurodegeneration research, concentrating on measurements in cerebrospinal fluid and brain. Elements considered are aluminum, arsenic, copper, iron, mercury, manganese, selenium and zinc. Also interactions of trace element species are discussed briefly. Typically, hyphenated techniques are used in neurodegeneration speciation studies. The results allow sorting-out less important species from compounds significant for the disease, with subsequent use of molecular biology methods to uncover the exact mechanisms. This review indicates the trend of combining speciation and neuroscience and provides a sketch about data and outcomes. For brain research, we recommend using modern, powerful techniques throughout which provide advanced validity and information in a chemical sense.

通过确定元素种类模式，元素形态学可以更深入地了解疾病的分子机制。因此，具有研究阿尔茨海默氏病，帕金森氏病，肌萎缩性侧索硬化症和轻度认知障碍的神经变性的巨大潜力，在流行病学或临床神经学研究中越来越多地考虑到物种形成。这篇评论分析了神经变性研究中最近的物种发现，重点是脑脊液和大脑中的测量。所考虑的元素是铝，砷，铜，铁，汞，锰，硒和锌。还简要讨论了微量元素种类之间的相互作用。通常，联用技术用于神经退行性变种研究。结果允许从对疾病重要的化合物中筛选出次要的物种，随后使用分子生物学方法揭示确切的机理。这篇评论指出了物种学和神经科学相结合的趋势，并提供了有关数据和结果的草图。对于大脑研究，我们建议使用现代，强大的技术，从化学意义上讲，它们可以提供先进的有效性和信息。