The Protective and Dose-Dependent Effects of L-Name in Aluminium-Induced Neurotoxicity

Abstract

Numerous research studies have undoubtedly shown that aluminium is a very harmful substance which enters the human body externally from the environment. The aluminum intake usually happens unintentionally, due to the fact that people know little about its prevalence in water, factory-processed foods, medicines, cosmetics, etc. When accumulated in human organs, it can cause severe damage, and even lead to chronic neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer‘s disease. The extent to which nitric oxide (NO) is involved in the basic mechanisms of aluminum neurotoxicity, like oxidative stress and the antioxidant defense, is intriguing scientific community. In this chapter are presented results of the intrahippocampal application of aluminum chloride and a pretreatment with Nω-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME), the non-selective inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase activities. It turned out that, in order to avoid erroneous conclusions about NO not being involved in aluminium-induced neurotoxicity, it was necessary to titrate the dose of L-NAME (1, 10 and 100 micrograms). Among the three doses applied prior to the application of aluminum, only the highest dose acted as an antioxidant in the four examined brain structures.