J Inorg Biochem. 2009 Aug 20. [Epub ahead of print]

Aluminum hydroxide injections lead to motor deficits and motor neuron degeneration.

Shaw CA, Petrik MS. Departments of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; Experimental Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; Graduate Program in Neuroscience, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Gulf War Syndrome is a multi-system disorder afflicting many veterans of Western armies in the 1990-1991 Gulf War. A number of those afflicted may show neurological deficits including various cognitive dysfunctions and motor neuron disease, the latter expression virtually indistinguishable from classical amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) except for the age of onset. This ALS "cluster" represents the second such ALS cluster described in the literature to date. Possible causes of GWS include several of the adjuvants in the anthrax vaccine and others. The most likely culprit appears to be aluminum hydroxide. In an initial series of experiments, we examined the potential toxicity of aluminum hydroxide in male, outbred CD-1 mice injected subcutaneously in two equivalent-to-human doses. After sacrifice, spinal cord and motor cortex samples were examined by immunohistochemistry. Aluminum-treated mice showed significantly increased apoptosis of motor neurons and increases in reactive astrocytes and microglial proliferation within the spinal cord and cortex. Morin stain detected the presence of aluminum in the cytoplasm of motor neurons with some neurons also testing positive for the presence of hyper-phosphorylated tau protein, a pathological hallmark of various neurological diseases, including Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal dementia. A second series of experiments was conducted on mice injected with six doses of aluminum hydroxide. Behavioural analyses in these mice revealed significant impairments in a number of motor functions as well as diminished spatial memory capacity. The demonstrated neurotoxicity of aluminum hydroxide and its relative ubiquity as an adjuvant suggest that greater scrutiny by the scientific community is warranted.

PMID: 19740540 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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written by Maff, September 14, 2009

This study highlights the need for further research and scrutiny into the use of aluminium hydroxide as an adjuvant in vaccines. This aluminium compound is used in routine vaccinations, not just those against anthrax and other pathogens potentially used in biological weapons in the Gulf War. Aluminium hydroxide stimulates an immune response and is known to remain in the body doing so for years after a vaccination. It has been linked not only to Gulf War syndrome but also chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), autism, and numerous other conditions involving immune system and nervous system dysfunction.

Aluminium's role in increasing the accumulation of tau protein and beta-amyloid plaques in the brain characteristic of Alzheimer's disease has been well established.

This study demonstrates that aluminium hydroxide increases programmed cell death (apoptosis) of motor neurons, the nerve cells that control movement. It also shows that this common vaccine ingredient increases the numbers of astrocytes and microglia; central nervous system (CNS) cells. Microglia are the resident macrophages (a type of white blood cell) in the brain and spinal cord and represent their main immune defense while astrocytes are cells involved in the protection and repair of the CNS, amongst other things. It is clear then that aluminium hydroxide causes systemic immune effects, particularly in CNS which may account for both neurological and cognitive symptoms in Gulf War syndrome and other diseases.

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