Cognitive Deterioration and Associated Pathology Induced by Chronic Low-Level Aluminum Ingestion in a Translational Rat Model Provides an Explanation of Alzheimer's Disease, Tests for Susceptibility and Avenues for Treatment

Figure 2

Staging of aged rat (upper row) and aged human (lower row) hippocampal CA1 neurons stained for Al [30, 31] show progressive Al accumulation accompanied by cytopathological change. Stage 0: the entire cell appears Al-negative and has normal morphology; this stage is not observed in the aged human specimens. Stage I: magenta nucleolus, no other staining for aluminum. Stage II: magenta nucleolus in pink nucleoplasm with visible chromatin; the cytoplasm is blue. Stage III: magenta nucleolus in an elongated or irregularly shaped purple nucleus. The cytoplasm is blue. Many apical dendrites from this stage onwards have a serpentine appearance. Stage IV: the magenta staining appears in the elongated nucleus which now shows less structural detail; the shrunken cytoplasm is still blue. Stage V: purple to magenta staining appears throughout the nucleus and cytoplasm. Cell shape is distorted and the axon and dendrites are disrupted. Magnification bar (MB) = 15 μm, Reproduced from [31].