[Chronic toxic effects of aluminum on nervous system in rabbits]

Twenty-one male rabbits were administered with alum (aluminum potassium sulfate) for 32 weeks to study the accumulative toxic effects of aluminum in food additives on central nervous system. Results showed aluminum levels in blood and brain tissue of the animals increased significantly with intake of alum (P < 0.01). Blood zinc levels, and activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and monoamine oxidase B (MAO-B) correlated negatively with aluminum levels in blood and brain, and SOD activity correlated negatively to accumulative aluminum deposit and positively to lipid oxide level in brain. Pathological examinations showed lesions in gyrus centralis anterior, gyrus hippocampi and spinal cord of the animals got more severely and extensively with aluminum intake and brain aluminum content, with disarrangement of neurofilaments and neurotubule, and deformation of synaptic structures.