Aluminum adjuvant linked to gulf war illness induces motor neuron death in mice

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Neuromolecular Med. 2007;9(1):83-100.

Aluminum adjuvant linked to gulf war illness induces motor neuron death in

mice.

Petrik MS et al

Department of Ophthalmology and Program in Neuroscience, University of

British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Gulf War illness (GWI) affects a significant percentage of veterans of the

1991 conflict, but its origin remains unknown. Associated with some cases

of GWI are increased incidences of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and other

neurological disorders. Whereas many environmental factors have been

linked to GWI, the role of the anthrax vaccine has come under increasing

scrutiny. Among the vaccine's potentially toxic components are the

adjuvants aluminum hydroxide and squalene. To examine whether these

compounds might contribute to neuronal deficits associated with GWI, an

animal model for examining the potential neurological impact of aluminum

hydroxide, squalene, or aluminum hydroxide combined with squalene was

developed. Young, male colony CD-1 mice were injected with the adjuvants

at doses equivalent to those given to US military service personnel. All

mice were subjected to a battery of motor and cognitive-behavioral tests

over a 6-mo period postinjections. Following sacrifice, central nervous

system tissues were examined using immunohistochemistry for evidence of

inflammation and cell death. Behavioral testing showed motor deficits in

the aluminum treatment group that expressed as a progressive decrease in

strength measured by the wire-mesh hang test (final deficit at 24 wk;

about 50%). Significant cognitive deficits in water-maze learning were

observed in the combined aluminum and squalene group (4.3 errors per

trial) compared with the controls (0.2 errors per trial) after 20 wk.

Apoptotic neurons were identified in aluminum-injected animals that showed

significantly increased activated caspase-3 labeling in lumbar spinal cord

(255%) and primary motor cortex (192%) compared with the controls.

Aluminum-treated groups also showed significant motor neuron loss (35%)

and increased numbers of astrocytes (350%) in the lumbar spinal cord. The

findings suggest a possible role for the aluminum adjuvant in some

neurological features associated with GWI and possibly an additional role

for the combination of adjuvants.

PMID: 17114826 [PubMed - in process]