Aluminum toxicity to the brain

• Published in: The Science of the total environment 1988-04, Vol.71 (1), p.59-64
• Main Authors: Krishnan, S.S., McLachlan, D.R., Krishnan, B., Fenton, S.S.A., Harrison, J.E.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aluminum - metabolism; Alzheimer Disease - metabolism; Brain - metabolism; Brain - ultrastructure; Brain Chemistry; Humans; Intermediate Filaments - ultrastructure; Neutron Activation Analysis; Spectrophotometry, Atomic
• ISSN: 0048-9697; 1879-1026
• DOI: 10.1016/0048-9697(88)90299-9

The association between elevated brain aluminum levels and Alzheimer's disease (AD) is examined and critically reviewed. We found elevated aluminum levels in the brains of patients with AD ( > 4 μg/g dry wt.) compared with normal subjects ( ∼ 1.5 μg/g dry wt.). Nine laboratories from different geographical regions have confirmed this finding. Two laboratories did not find any differences between AD and control brains. This discrepancy is traced to differences in sample sizes used for the aluminum assay and the sample selection criteria. It is found that it is essential to use small sizes ( ∼ 10 mg dry wt.) and to ensure that control brains do not contain neurofibrillary tangles (NFT) and that AD brains do. The exact pathogenic role of aluminum in AD is, as yet, unclear. It is the only element (other than calcium, which non-specifically accumulates at all degenerating tissue sites) that is found in elevated concentrations in NFTs. It is found elevated at four loci in the brain, i.e. the DNA-containing structures of the nucleus, the protein moities of NFTs, the amyloid cores of senile plaques and cerebral ferritin. The evidence thus far indicates that aluminum is toxic to the brain and it is probable that it has a pathogenic role in Alzheimer's disease.