Perl D P, Good P F
Department of Pathology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY 10029.
Ciba Found Symp. 1992;169:217-27; discussion 227-36. doi: 10.1002/9780470514306.ch13.
Despite the contradictory results of studies attempting to compare the bulk brain tissue aluminium content of specimens from Alzheimer's disease patients and controls, microprobe studies from our laboratory have consistently documented evidence of selective accumulation of the element within the neurofibrillary tangle-bearing cells associated with this condition. Laser microprobe mass analysis (a highly sensitive and precise technique for trace elemental microprobe analysis) has now demonstrated that the most prominent aluminium accumulations occur within the neurofibrillary tangle itself. Similar findings have been obtained from microprobe studies of the neurofibrillary tangles which are a characteristic feature of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis/parkinsonism-dementia complex of Guam. Although the intraneuronal localization of aluminium in the Guam-derived specimens is similar to that of Alzheimer's disease, the concentration of aluminium is considerably higher than is encountered in Alzheimer's disease specimens. We conclude that aluminium is an integral component of the neurofibrillary tangle and raise the possibility that the cross-linking properties of this highly reactive metal may stabilize the constituent cytoskeletal proteins which make up this pathological structure.
尽管试图比较阿尔茨海默病患者和对照者标本中大脑组织铝含量的研究结果相互矛盾，但我们实验室的微探针研究始终记录了与这种疾病相关的神经原纤维缠结细胞内该元素选择性积累的证据。激光微探针质谱分析（一种用于痕量元素微探针分析的高度灵敏和精确的技术）现已表明，最显著的铝积累发生在神经原纤维缠结本身内。对关岛肌萎缩侧索硬化症/帕金森病 - 痴呆综合征特征性的神经原纤维缠结进行微探针研究也得到了类似的结果。尽管关岛标本中铝在神经元内的定位与阿尔茨海默病相似，但铝的浓度比在阿尔茨海默病标本中高得多。我们得出结论，铝是神经原纤维缠结的一个组成部分，并提出这种高反应性金属的交联特性可能稳定构成这种病理结构的细胞骨架蛋白成分的可能性。
