title: Aluminum in the central nervous system (CNS): toxicity in humans and animals, vaccine adjuvants, and autoimmunity.
abstract: We have examined the neurotoxicity of aluminum in humans and animals under various conditions, following different routes of administration, and provide an overview of the various associated disease states. The literature demonstrates clearly negative impacts of aluminum on the nervous system across the age span. In adults, aluminum exposure can lead to apparently age-related neurological deficits resembling Alzheimer's and has been linked to this disease and to the Guamanian variant, ALS-PDC. Similar outcomes have been found in animal models. In addition, injection of aluminum adjuvants in an attempt to model Gulf War syndrome and associated neurological deficits leads to an ALS phenotype in young male mice. In young children, a highly significant correlation exists between the number of pediatric aluminum-adjuvanted vaccines administered and the rate of autism spectrum disorders. Many of the features of aluminum-induced neurotoxicity may arise, in part, from autoimmune reactions, as part of the ASIA syndrome.
authors.affiliation: Neural Dynamics Research Group, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of British Columbia (UBC), 828 W. 10th Ave., Vancouver, BC, V5Z 1L8, Canada. cashawlab@gmail.com
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Shaw
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tomljenovic
mesh_terms: D000277:Adjuvants, Pharmaceutic / Q000009:adverse effects*; D000328:Adult; D000535:Aluminum / Q000009:adverse effects*; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000139:chemically induced*; D000690:Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis / Q000139:chemically induced*; D000818:Animals; D015551:Autoimmunity / Q000187:drug effects; D002490:Central Nervous System / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000276:immunology; D002648:Child; D002659:Child Development Disorders, Pervasive / Q000139:chemically induced*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D018923:Persian Gulf Syndrome / Q000139:chemically induced*; D014612:Vaccines / Q000009:adverse effects*
chemical_list: D000277:Adjuvants, Pharmaceutic; D014612:Vaccines; D000535:Aluminum