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| Research article summary (published 29 Nov 2002): |
Neurotoxic effects of aluminium among foundry workers and Alzheimer's disease.
Full Abstract
BACKGROUND:
In a cross-sectional case-control study conducted in northern Italy, 64 former aluminium dust-exposed workers were compared with 32 unexposed controls from other companies matched for age, professional training, economic status, educational and clinical features. The findings lead the authors to suggest a possible role of the inhalation of aluminium dust in pre-clinical mild cognitive disorder which might prelude Alzheimer's disease (AD) or AD-like neurological deterioration.
METHODS:
The investigation involved a standardised occupational and medical history with particular attention to exposure and symptoms, assessments of neurotoxic metals in serum:
aluminium (Al-s), copper (Cu-s) and zinc (Zn-s), and in blood:
manganese (Mn-b), lead (Pb-b) and iron (Fe-b). Cognitive functions were assessed by the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), the Clock Drawing Test (CDT) and auditory evoked Event-Related Potential (ERP-P300). To detect early signs of mild cognitive impairment (MCI), the time required to solve the MMSE (MMSE-time) and CDT (CDT-time) was also measured.
RESULTS:
Significantly higher internal doses of Al-s and Fe-b were found in the ex-employees compared to the control group. The neuropsychological tests showed a significant difference in the latency of P300, MMSE score, MMSE-time, CDT score and CDT-time between the exposed and the control population. P300 latency was found to correlate positively with Al-s and MMSE-time. Al-s has significant effects on all tests:
a negative relationship was observed between internal Al concentrations, MMSE score and CDT score; a positive relationship was found between internal Al concentrations, MMSE-time and CDT-time. All the potential confounders such as age, height, weight, blood pressure, schooling years, alcohol, coffee consumption and smoking habit were taken into account.
CONCLUSIONS:
These findings suggest a role of aluminium in early neurotoxic effects that can be detected at a pre-clinical stage by P300, MMSE, MMSE-time, CDT-time and CDT score, considering a 10 micrograms/l cut-off level of serum aluminium, in aluminium foundry workers with concomitant high blood levels of iron. The authors raise the question whether pre-clinical detection of aluminium neurotoxicity and consequent early treatment might help to prevent or retard the onset of AD or AD-like pathologies.
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Author information
Author/s: Polizzi, Salvatore (S); Pira, Enrico (E); Ferrara, Mauro (M); Bugiani, Massimiliano (M); Papaleo, Andrea (A); Albera, Roberto (R); Palmi, Silvana (S);
Affiliation: Dipartimento di Medicina del Lavoro dell'Università di Torino, Servizio di Medicina del Lavoro, ASL 8, 10044 Carignano, TO, Torino, Italy. mdl8to(-atsign-)cometacom.it
Journal and publication information
Publication Type: Comparative Study; Journal Article
Journal: Neurotoxicology (Neurotoxicology), published in Netherlands. (Language: eng)
Reference: 2002-Dec; vol 23 (issue 6) : pp 761-74
Dates: Created 2003/01/10; Completed 2003/04/04; Revised 2006/11/15;
PMID: 12520766, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)
Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.
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