Considerations for measuring iron in post-mortem tissue of Parkinson's disease patients.

Redox-active iron is considered to be an important factor in the pathology and progression of several neurodegenerative disorders, including Parkinson's disease. The various roles of iron in normal physiology and its prevalence in the wider environment present numerous challenges to both accurate measurement and interpretation of brain iron levels. This review will discuss considerations for the analysis of iron in post-mortem samples, including how contamination, sample preparation and methods of analysis may influence results. In addition, several important factors influencing interpretation of iron levels will be considered.