Functional and morphological changes in cultured neurons of rat cerebral cortex induced by long-term application of aluminum.

Aluminum is an environmental neurotoxin and a suspected risk factor for Alzheimer's disease. The neurotoxicity of aluminum on cultured neurons of rat cerebral cortex was investigated using an assay system for synapse formation and immunohistochemistry. The frequency of spontaneous oscillations of intracellular Ca2+, which is correlated to the number of synapses, was decreased after exposure to 100 microM of aluminum chloride for 22 days. Long-term application of aluminum (48 days) caused aggregation of cell bodies and fasciculation of processes. Processes and cell bodies were strongly stained by antibody to tau protein, which is one of the main components of Alzheimer's neurofibrillary tangles. It is suggested that the characteristics of the degeneration of cultured neurons induced by aluminum show some similarities to the pathology observed in brains with Alzheimer's disease.