Chronic exposure to aluminum and risk of Alzheimer’s disease: A meta-analysis

• Published in: Neuroscience letters 2016-01, Vol.610, p.200-206
• Main Authors: Wang, Zengjin, Wei, Xiaomin, Yang, Junlin, Suo, Jinning, Chen, Jingyi, Liu, Xianchen, Zhao, Xiulan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aluminum; Aluminum - toxicity; Alzheimer; Alzheimer Disease - chemically induced; Environmental Pollutants - toxicity; Humans; Meta-analysis; Odds ratio; Risk; s disease
• ISSN: 0304-3940; 1872-7972
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2015.11.014

•This meta-analysis included 8 cohort and case control studies, with a total of 10567 individuals.•Two main types of chronic Al exposure are reported: Al in drinking water and occupational exposure.•This meta-analysis shows that chronic Al exposure is associated with 71% increased risk of AD. A meta-analysis was performed to investigate whether chronic exposure to aluminum (Al) is associated with increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Eight cohort and case-control studies (with a total of 10567 individuals) that met inclusion criteria for the meta-analysis were selected after a thorough literature review of PubMed, Web of Knowledge, Elsevier ScienceDirect and Springer databases up to June, 2015. The Newcastle–Ottawa Scale (NOS) was used to assess the quality of included studies. Q test and I2 statistic were used to examine heterogeneity between selected studies. The overall odds ratio (OR) was calculated using a fixed-effect model because no significant heterogeneity between studies was found. No publication bias was observed based on a funnel plot and Egger’s test. Results showed that individuals chronically exposed to Al were 71% more likely to develop AD (OR: 1.71, 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.35–2.18). The finding suggests that chronic Al exposure is associated with increased risk of AD.