The Health Effects of Aluminum Exposure. Klotz K, Weistenhöfer W, Neff F, Hartwig A, van Thriel C, Drexler H. Dtsch Arztebl Int. 2017 Sep 29;114(39):653-659. doi: 10.3238/arztebl.2017.0653. Review. PMID: 29034866. BACKGROUND: Aluminum is regularly taken up with the daily diet. It is also used in antiperspirants, as an adjuvant for vaccination, and in desensitization procedures. In this review, we present the scientifically documented harmful effects of aluminum on health and the threshold values associated with them. METHODS: This review is based on publications retrieved by a selective search of the PubMed and SCOPUS databases on the topic of aluminum in connection with neurotoxicity, Alzheimer's disease, and breast cancer, as well as on the authors' personal experience in occupational and environmental medicine. RESULTS: The reference values for the internal aluminum load (<15 μg/L in urine, <5 μg/L in serum) are especially likely to be exceeded in persons with occupational exposure. The biological tolerance value for occupational exposure is 50 μg of aluminum per gram of creatinine in the urine. For aluminum welders and workers in the aluminum industry, declining performance in neuropsychological tests (attention, learning, memory) has been found only with aluminum concentrations exceeding 100 μg/g creatinine in the urine; manifest encephalopathy with dementia was not found. Elevated aluminum content has been found in the brains of persons with Alzheimer's disease. It remains unclear whether this is a cause or an effect of the disease. There is conflicting evidence on carcinogenicity. The contention that the use of aluminum-containing antiperspirants promotes breast cancer is not supported by consistent scientific data. Link.
Understanding Aspects of Aluminum Exposure in Alzheimer's Disease Development. Brain Pathol. 2016 Mar;26(2):139-54. doi: 10.1111/bpa.12333. Epub 2015 Dec 8. Kandimalla R(1)(2), Vallamkondu J(3), Corgiat EB(4), Gill KD(1). Aluminum is a ubiquitously abundant nonessential element. Aluminum has been associated with neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and dialysis encephalopathy. Many continue to regard aluminum as controversial although increasing evidence supports the implications of aluminum in the pathogenesis of AD. Aluminum causes the accumulation of tau protein and Aβ protein in the brain of experimental animals. Aluminum induces neuronal apoptosis in vivo and in vitro, either by endoplasmic stress from the unfolded protein response, by mitochondrial dysfunction, or a combination of them. Some, people who are exposed chronically to aluminum, either from through water and/or food, have not shown any AD pathology, apparently because their gastrointestinal barrier is more effective. This article is written keeping in mind mechanisms of action of aluminum neurotoxicity with respect to AD. Link.
Sánchez-Muniz FJ, Macho-González A, Garcimartín A, Santos-López JA, Benedí J, Bastida S, González-Muñoz MJ. The Nutritional Components of Beer and Its Relationship with Neurodegeneration and Alzheimer's Disease. Nutrients. 2019 Jul 10;11(7). pii: E1558. doi: 10.3390/nu11071558. Review. PubMed PMID: 31295866; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6682961. Link.
Meng H, Wang S, Guo J, Zhao Y, Zhang S, Zhao Y, Niu Q. Cognitive impairment of workers in a large-scale aluminium factory in China: a cross-sectional study. BMJ Open. 2019 Jun 16;9(6):e027154. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2018-027154. PubMed PMID: 31209090; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6589001. Link.
Lukiw WJ, Kruck TPA, Percy ME, Pogue AI, Alexandrov PN, Walsh WJ, Sharfman NM, Jaber VR, Zhao Y, Li W, Bergeron C, Culicchia F, Fang Z, McLachlan DRC. Aluminum in neurological disease - a 36 year multicenter study. J Alzheimers Dis Parkinsonism. 2019;8(6). pii: 457. doi: 10.4172/2161-0460.1000457. Epub 2018 Nov 29. PubMed PMID: 31179161; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6550484. These data represent the largest study of aluminum concentration in the brains of human neurological and neurodegenerative disease ever undertaken. Neurological diseases examined were AD (N=186), ataxia Friedreich's type (AFT; N=6), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS; N=16), autism spectrum disorder (ASD; N=26), dialysis dementia syndrome (DDS; N=27), Down's syndrome (DS; trisomy21; N=24), Huntington's chorea (HC; N=15), multiple infarct dementia (MID; N=19), multiple sclerosis (MS; N=23), Parkinson's disease (PD; N=27), prion disease (PrD; N=11) including bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE; 'mad cow disease'), Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) and Gerstmann-Straussler-Sheinker syndrome (GSS), progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML; N=11), progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP; N=24), schizophrenia (SCZ; N=21), a young control group (YCG; N=22) and an aged control group (ACG; N=53). Amongst these 18 common neurological conditions and controls we report a statistically significant trend for aluminum to be increased only in AD, DS and DDS compared to age- and gender-matched brains from the same anatomical region. Link.