[Link between aluminum neurotoxicity and neurodegenerative disorders].

Aluminum is an old element that has been known for a long time, but some of its properties are only now being discovered. Although environmentally abundant, aluminum is not essential for life; in fact, because of its specific chemical properties, aluminum inhibits more than 200 biologically important functions and exerts various adverse effects in plants, animals, and humans. Aluminum is a widely recognized neurotoxin. It has been suggested that there is a relationship between exposure to aluminum and neurodegenerative diseases, including dialysis encephalopathy, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and parkinsonism dementia in the Kii Peninsula and Guam, as well as Alzheimer' s disease: however, this claim remains to be verified. In this chapter, we review the detailed characteristics of aluminum neurotoxicity and the link between Alzheimer' s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases, based on recent findings on metal-metal interactions and the functions of metalloproteins in synapses.