title: Gallium distribution in several human brain areas.
abstract: Gallium is an element of increasing biological interest: It is involved in problems related to environmental pollution (Ga compounds are used in electronics industry) and to clinical treatments (Ga radionuclides are employed to detect neoplastic lesions). Moreover, since its chemical behavior is similar to that of aluminum, gallium could play a role in the health effects attributed to this element. Data on naturally occurring Ga levels in human samples from healthy subjects are scanty; regarding the brain, the only reliable values available in the literature were published by Hamilton in 1972/73. In this work, the gallium distribution in several human brain areas, evaluated by radiochemical neutron activation analysis (RNAA), was found to be dishomogeneous. The element concentration determined in dry samples was, in any case, lower than the ppb level.
authors.affiliation: CNR Centro di studio per la Radiochimica e l'Analisi per Attivazione, Universita di Pavia, Italy.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Speziali
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Orvini
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rizzio
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Giordano
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zatta
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Favarato
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Perazzolo
mesh_terms: D001923:Brain Chemistry; D005708:Gallium / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012016:Reference Values
chemical_list: D005708:Gallium