Pineal stones have an important function in Alzheimer’s disease

Pineal stones have an important function in Alzheimer’s disease | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Pineal stones have an important function in Alzheimer’s disease Wei Ge, Haotian Liu, Meng Pan, Xinnan Liu, Yan Yang, Baohua Guo This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4002326/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The pineal gland, an endocrine organ located at the brain's geometric center, primarily secretes melatonin to regulate circadian rhythms. Pineal gland calcification (PGC) is the formation of pineal stones, composed of mainly hydroxyapatite. In vivo study using computed tomography showed patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) have significantly higher the degree of PGC than controls. However, the biological function of PGC and its alterations in AD remain unknown. Here we show that PGC is part of a brain filtration system that adsorbs metal ions and has a neuroprotective function. This function is diminished due to decreased carbonate substitution in pineal stones of individuals with AD. We identified four main types of pineal stone by surface micromorpho-elemental analysis, indicating a greater surface morphological diversity in AD. Furthermore, AD pineal stone nanocrystals exhibit neuronotoxicity and promote the formation of soluble amyloid-beta (Aβ)42 oligomers. We propose pineal gland radiomics and serum metallomics as tools for auxiliary diagnosis of AD. We anticipate our assay as an initial step towards advancing basic biological research on PGC and understanding its clinical significance in AD. Health sciences/Diseases/Neurological disorders/Dementia/Alzheimer's disease Biological sciences/Cell biology Biological sciences/Biochemistry/Biophysical chemistry Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files movieS1NC1627XXm.mp4 Supplementary Video 1 movieS2NC1622.5XXm.mp4 Supplementary Video 2 movieS3AD13710XXm.mp4 Supplementary Video 3 movieS4AD1370.7XXm.mp4 Supplementary Video 4 SupplementaryData1.pdf SupplementaryData2.pdf SupplementaryData3.pdf SupplementaryData4.pdf SupplementaryData5.pdf SupplementaryData6.pdf SupplementaryData7.pdf SupplementaryData8.pdf SupplementaryData9.pdf Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-4002326","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":276107761,"identity":"8e2e9466-d564-4f55-89f3-c4efd6acce80","order_by":0,"name":"Wei 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