Alzheimer's Disease Linked to Exposure to Aluminum

A study in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease suggests a connection between exposure to aluminum and Alzheimer's disease (AD), reports SciTechDaily . Scientists discovered significant amounts of aluminum in brain tissue from donors with familial AD, as well as a high level of co-location with the amyloid-beta protein, which leads to early onset of AD. "This . . . is the first study to demonstrate an unequivocal association between the location of aluminum and amyloid-beta in the disease," said Keele University's Christopher Exley. "It shows that aluminum and amyloid-beta are intimately woven in the neuropathology." Aluminum levels were measured in the brain tissue of Colombians with familial AD who shared a mutation that leads to elevated amyloid-beta, early disease onset, and aggressive disease etiology. The levels were compared with a control set of tissues from donors with no diagnosis of neuropathological disease, while aluminum-specific fluorescence microscopy imaging probed the relationship between aluminum and amyloid-beta in familial AD. The aluminum content of tissue from donors with the mutation was universally high, with 42 percent of samples exhibiting a pathologically significant level, while levels were significantly higher than those in the controls. All brain tissues had aluminum deposits, predominantly co-located with amyloid-beta in senile plaques and occasionally in the brain vasculature.