Cicero Calogero Edoardo, Mostile Giovanni, Vasta Rosario, Rapisarda Venerando, Signorelli Salvatore Santo, Ferrante Margherita, Zappia Mario, Nicoletti Alessandra
Department of Medical, Surgical Sciences and Advanced Technologies "G. F. Ingrassia", University of Catania, Catania, Italy.
Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Catania, Catania, Italy.
Environ Res. 2017 Nov;159:82-94. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2017.07.048. Epub 2017 Aug 1.
Neurodegenerative processes encompass a large variety of diseases with different pathological patterns and clinical presentation such as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), Alzheimer Disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD). Genetic mutations have a known causative role, but the majority of cases are likely to be probably caused by a complex gene-environment interaction. Exposure to metals has been hypothesized to increase oxidative stress in brain cells leading to cell death and neurodegeneration. Neurotoxicity of metals has been demonstrated by several in vitro and in vivo experimental studies and it is likely that each metal could be toxic through specific pathways. The possible pathogenic role of different metals has been supported by some epidemiological evidences coming from occupational and ecological studies. In order to assess the possible association between metals and neurodegenerative disorders, several case-control studies have also been carried out evaluating the metals concentration in different biological specimens such as blood/serum/plasma, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), nail and hair, often reporting conflicting results. This review provides an overview of our current knowledge on the possible association between metals and ALS, AD and PD as main neurodegenerative disorders.
神经退行性病变包括多种具有不同病理模式和临床表现的疾病，如肌萎缩侧索硬化症（ALS）、阿尔茨海默病（AD）和帕金森病（PD）。基因突变具有已知的致病作用，但大多数病例可能是由复杂的基因-环境相互作用引起的。据推测，接触金属会增加脑细胞中的氧化应激，导致细胞死亡和神经退行性变。多项体外和体内实验研究已证实金属具有神经毒性，并且每种金属可能通过特定途径产生毒性。来自职业和生态研究的一些流行病学证据支持了不同金属可能的致病作用。为了评估金属与神经退行性疾病之间的可能关联，还开展了多项病例对照研究，评估血液/血清/血浆、脑脊液（CSF）、指甲和头发等不同生物样本中的金属浓度，结果往往相互矛盾。本综述概述了我们目前关于金属与作为主要神经退行性疾病的ALS、AD和PD之间可能关联的知识。
