Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a devastating and debilitating
neurodegenerative disease of unknown cause. A consensus suggests the involvement of both genetic and environmental factors of which the latter may involve human exposure to
aluminium. There are no data on the content and distribution of
aluminium in human brain tissue in MS. The
aluminium content of brain tissue from 14 donors with a diagnosis of MS was determined by transversely heated
graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry. The location of
aluminium in the brain tissue of two donors was investigated by
aluminium-specific fluorescence microscopy. The
aluminium content of brain tissue in MS was universally high with many tissues bearing concentrations in excess of 10 μg/g dry wt. (10 ppm) and some exceeding 50 ppm. There were no statistically significant relationships between brain lobes, donor age or donor gender.
Aluminium-specific fluorescence successfully identified
aluminium in brain tissue in both intracellular and extracellular locations. The association of
aluminium with corpora amylacea suggests a role for
aluminium in neurodegeneration in MS.