Bioavailable copper and manganese in soils from Iceland and their relationship with scrapie occurrence in sheep

The bioavailability of trace metals can be directly linked with many common animal and human diseases. It is easier to correlate regional geochemical trends with disease distribution in the developing world because local populations and animals live from the land. In the western world, humans tend to live from the global food market whereas animals graze on the land. Recent biochemical studies have shown that the prion protein needs copper to keep its structure. If copper is not available, the prion protein can take up manganese and unfold. Preliminary results for trace metals in soil samples from scrapie-affected areas in Iceland show that bioavailable manganese manganese (easily reducible and exchangeable Mn) is very high whereas soluble copper and free copper are very low.