Manganese produce a parkinsonism-like illness characterized by movement abnormalities. This condition is not responsive to typical therapies used in the treatment of PD, suggesting an alternative pathway than the typical dopaminergic loss within the substantia nigra. Manganese may accumulate in the basal ganglia, leading to the abnormal movements. A mutation of the SLC30A10 gene, a manganese efflux transporter necessary for decreasing intracellular Mn, has been linked with the development of this Parkinsonism-like disease. The Lewy bodies typical to PD are not seen in Mn-induced parkinsonism. Animal experiments have given the opportunity to examine the consequences of manganese overexposure under controlled conditions.
Chemical chameleon Chemical chameleon The chemical chameleon is a redox reaction, well known from classroom demonstrations, that exploits the dramatic color changes associated with the various oxidation states of manganese. Glauber reported the first description of the production of potassium permanganate when he noted that manganese dioxide (as the mineral pyrolusite) could be reacted at high temperatures with alkali to obtain a material that dissolved in water to give a green solution which slowly shifted to a violet-red. This process, similar to that still used in the production of potassium permanganate, oxidized manganese dioxide to potassium manganate which, acidified by carbon dioxide