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Mechanisms of aluminium neurotoxicity in oxidative stress-induced ...

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ALUMINIUM<br />

General features<br />

INTRODUCTION<br />

The human organism is constantly and <strong>in</strong>evitably exposed to <strong>alum<strong>in</strong>ium</strong>, a<br />

ubiquitous metal which is the third most abundant element <strong>in</strong> the Earth‟s crust (after<br />

oxygen and silicon), represent<strong>in</strong>g 8.3% <strong>of</strong> total components (Becaria et al. 2002). Its<br />

atomic number is 13 and its electronic configuration is [Ne]3s 2 3p 1 . Alum<strong>in</strong>ium has two<br />

isotopes, Al 27 which has a natural abundance <strong>of</strong> 99.9% and Al 26 with a half-life (t1/2) <strong>of</strong><br />

7.2 � 10 5 years. In nature, <strong>alum<strong>in</strong>ium</strong> does not occur <strong>in</strong> the elemental state but is found<br />

<strong>in</strong> comb<strong>in</strong>ation with oxygen, fluor<strong>in</strong>e, silicon, sulphur and other species (Brusewitz<br />

1984, Wagner 1999). The physical, chemical and biological properties <strong>of</strong> the <strong>alum<strong>in</strong>ium</strong><br />

complexes will determ<strong>in</strong>e the toxicok<strong>in</strong>etics <strong>of</strong> this metal (Harris et al. 1997).<br />

Alum<strong>in</strong>ium speciation<br />

Alum<strong>in</strong>ium forms a wide range <strong>of</strong> hydroxyl complexes <strong>in</strong> water solution,<br />

evolv<strong>in</strong>g from Al 3+ towards [Al(OH)4] - with<strong>in</strong> the 3-8 pH range (Reaction 8; Figure 21).<br />

Reaction 8:<br />

[Al(H2O)6] 3+ � [Al(H2O)5(OH)] 2+ � [Al(H2O)4(OH)2] + � Al(OH)3 � [Al(OH)4] -<br />

Actually, <strong>in</strong> aqueous solution at pH < 5.0, the prevalent mononuclear Al species is the<br />

octahedral hexahydrate [Al(H2O)6] 3+ (generally abbreviated as Al 3+ ). In less acidic<br />

solutions with pH values greater than 5.0, [Al(H2O)6] 3+ undergoes hydrolysis that yield<br />

different species such as [Al(H2O)5(OH)] 2+ (abbreviated as [Al(OH)] 2+ ) and<br />

[Al(H2O)4(OH)2] + (abbreviated as [Al(OH)2] + ). But not only mononuclear <strong>alum<strong>in</strong>ium</strong><br />

species exist <strong>in</strong> aqueous solution, as it is <strong>in</strong>cl<strong>in</strong>ed to polymerize form<strong>in</strong>g the unstable<br />

dimer [Al2(OH)2(H2O)8] 4+ and the more stable polymers [Al6(OH)12] 6+ , [Al10(OH)22] 8+<br />

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