Aluminium potassium bis(sulphate)

Specific investigations: other studies

Administrative data

Endpoint:

behavioural effects

Type of information:

experimental study

Adequacy of study:

supporting study

Reliability:

2 (reliable with restrictions)

Rationale for reliability incl. deficiencies:

study well documented, meets generally accepted scientific principles, acceptable for assessment

Data source

Reference

Reference Type:

publication

Title:

Experimental research regarding the impact of aluminum salts on locomotor activity in mice

Author:

Isabel Ghiță, Aurelian Zugravu, Ana Segarceanu, Marinela Chirilă, Claudia Handra, Ion Fulga

Year:

2015

Bibliographic source:

Romanian Biotechnological Letters, 20 (6), 2015, 10976 - 10981

Materials and methods

Test guideline

Qualifier:

no guideline followed

Principles of method if other than guideline:

This study aims to highlight the relationship between aluminum and locomotor activity in experimental animals that received various aluminum compounds in single dose or chronic administration. The locomotor activity of male albino mice was tested using an Activity Cage and the Simple Exploration Test. All experiments were performed in accordance with European Directive 86/609 / EEC / 11.24.1986 and GD 37 / 30.01.2002 regarding the protection of animals used for experimental or other scientific purposes. Tests were conducted with the approval of Ethics Committee UMF „Carol Davila” Bucharest.

GLP compliance:

no

Type of method:

in vivo

Endpoint addressed:

neurotoxicity

other: locomotor activity

Test material

Test material information

Constituent 1

Reference substance name:

Aluminium sulphate

EC Number:

233-135-0

EC Name:

Aluminium sulphate

Cas Number:

10043-01-3

Molecular formula:

Al.3/2H2O4S

IUPAC Name:

aluminium sulphate

Test animals

Species:

mouse

Strain:

not specified

Sex:

male

Details on test animals or test system and environmental conditions:

All the animals were provided by the "Carol Davila" University of Medicine and Pharmacy Bucharest biobase. The mice (weight: 25 -35 g) were brought to the laboratory within 24 hours before the start of the tests being maintained in standard environmental conditions and having access ad libitum to food and water. The animals were housed 12 per each cage in Plexiglas cages (bed of wood chips). Ambiental temperature was between 21 and 24 ° C and the relative humidity was maintained between 45-60%.

Administration / exposure

Route of administration:

intraperitoneal

Vehicle:

other: saline

Remarks:

0.1 ml/10g bw

Details on exposure:

All substances were injected intraperitoneally and the tests were conducted after 30 and 120 minutes after administering the substances.

Analytical verification of doses or concentrations:

no

Duration of treatment / exposure:

1 d

Frequency of treatment:

single dose

Doses / concentrations

Doses / concentrations 1

Dose / conc.:

3.6 mg/kg bw (total dose)

Remarks:

aluminium sulphate

Doses / concentrations 2

Dose / conc.:

7.2 mg/kg bw (total dose)

Remarks:

aluminium sulphate

Doses / concentrations 3

Dose / conc.:

9 mg/kg bw (total dose)

Remarks:

aluminium chloride

Doses / concentrations 4

Dose / conc.:

18 mg/kg bw (total dose)

Remarks:

aluminium chloride

No. of animals per sex per dose:

15

Control animals:

yes, concurrent no treatment

Details on study design:

The experiments aimed to evaluate locomotor activity at 30 and 120 minutes after administration of a single dose of AlCl3 and Al2(SO4)3 to the test animals. Testing was performed using a cage of locomotor activity - Activity Cage. Assessment of locomotor activity was done by measuring spontaneous movements. A Ugo Basile 374331 Locomotor Activity Cage with a size of 41/41/33 cm was used. Emitters of infrared radiation and sensors that detect horizontal and vertical movements made by each animal were placed on the sides of the cage which allow us to measure movement. Discontinuation of the radiation beam was interpreted as a movement of the animal in the action area of that beam. The sensors were connected to a unit allowing automatic counting of motion and printing the final test result. The duration of each test was 5 minutes and between testing the box was cleaned with a 10% alcohol solution. During each test background noise was minimized so as to eliminate possible error factors (noise can generate the occurrence of an inhibition behavior, „freeze" or „extreme agitation"). Each mouse was placed in the same corner of the cage and that was called the „start corner”. A reduction in the number of spontaneous horizontal or vertical movements made by each mouse was interpreted as an indicator for decreased locomotor activity. Results were analyzed using Microsoft Office Excel. Means and standard deviations for each batch were calculated and then the Student t-test was applied. Results were considered statistically significant if p <0.05.

Results and discussion

Details on results:

Effects 30 minutes after dosage:
At 30 minutes the average number of horizontal movements recorded by the group that received 3.6 mg/kg of Al2(SO4)3 was 390.64, much lower than the average achieved by the control group (528.57). The group that received 7.2 mg/kg of Al2(SO4)3 obtained an average of 418.43 horizontal movements, also markedly reduced compared to the control group. The group that received a dose of 9 mg/kg of AlCl3 showed a decrease in the number of movements made on the horizontal axis, the average number of movements being 461.57 compared with the control group who presented an average of 528.57. Also the dose of 18 mg/kg of AlCl3 led to a reduction in the number of horizontal movements compared with the control group, with an average of 330.07. According to the results, it can be concluded that the two aluminium salts administrated in two doses decreased the locomotor activity at 30 minutes and the effect was statistically significant compared to the control group (p <0.05). Both groups that received Al2(SO4)3 showed a significant decrease in the number of vertical movements with an average of 11 and 36.71 respectively, significantly lower compared with the values obtained by the control group (56.21). The group that received the low dose of AlCl3 had a mean number of vertical movements of 45.21, significantly lower than the control that had average of 56.21. The group injected with high dose AlCl3 showed an average of 23.21 vertical movements. In conclusion it was observed that the two substances based on aluminium decreased significantly the number of vertical movements of the treated animals compared with controls 30 minutes after administering the substance (p <0.05).
Effects 120 minutes after dosage:
At 120 minutes all groups showed a significant decrease in the mean number of horizontal movements compared with the control who presented a mean value of 480.67 (p <0.05). The group that received the small dose of Al2(SO4)3 had an average of 412.33 horizontal movements and the group that received Al2(SO4)3 in high dose had an average of 399.83. The group that received a low-dose of AlCl3 recorded an average number of horizontal movements of 388.25, a low value compared to 432.92 for the group who received high-dose AlCl3. Vertical movements recorded at 120 minutes after administering the substances also registered a noticeable reduction compared to the control. The group that received the low-dose of AlCl3 achieved a value of 20.25, those who received the high-dose of AlCl3 had a value of 8.92, the group with the small dose of Al2(SO4)3 recorded a value of 36.92, and those who received the high dose of Al2(SO4)3 had an average of 40.83. Only results recorded in those groups who received AlCl3 were significantly lower compared to control group. In the case of the groups that received Al2(SO4)3 the results had borderline significance.

Applicant's summary and conclusion

Conclusions:

The two aluminium salts, administered in high doses decreased the number of movements both horizontally and vertically compared to control group. Influence on locomotor activity debuted in 30 minutes and lasted 2 hours. The decrease in locomotor activity with high doses of studied compounds can be attributed to the aluminium ion. This effect obtained by administration of high doses of AlCl3 and Al2(SO4)3 may be due to the interference with the neuronal transmission system (serotonergic or GABAergic). Low doses of the studied aluminium compounds did not alter locomotor activity, the cause probably being that extremely high doses of aluminium ions which cross the blood-brain barrier are needed so that the aluminium ion manages to interfere with the transmission path of various neurotransmitters from the brain.

Executive summary:

In this publication by Ghita et al. (published 2015), experiments on the influence of aluminium salt exposure on the locomotor activity of mice are described. The two aluminium salts, administered in high doses decreased the number of movements both horizontally and vertically compared to control group. Influence on locomotor activity debuted in 30 minutes and lasted 2 hours. Low doses of the studied aluminium compounds administered over 14 days did not significantly alter locomotor activity. Observed effects may be due to the interference of aluminium with the neuronal transmission system (serotonergic or GABAergic) if aluminium ions manage to cross the blood-brain barrier.