The Relationship of Aluminium and Silver to Neural Tube Defects; a Case Control

Objective: The purpose of this study was to identify the relationship of neurotoxic inorganic elements in the hair of patients with the diagnosis of Neural Tube Defects. Our initial hypothesis was that neurotoxic inorganic elements were associated with Neural Tube Defects.
Methods: Twenty-three samples of hair from newborns were obtained from the General Hospital, “Aurelio Valdivieso” in the city of Oaxaca, Mexico. The study group included 8 newborn infants with neural tube pathology. The control group was composed of 15 newborns without this pathology. The presence of inorganic elements in the hair samples was determined by inductively-coupled plasma spectroscopy (spectroscopic emission of the plasma).
Findings: The population of newborns with Neural Tube Defects showed significantly higher values of the following elements than the control group: Aluminium, Neural Tube Defects 152.77±51.06 μg/g, control group 76.24±27.89 μg/g; Silver, Neural Tube Defects 1.45±0.76, control group 0.25±0.53 μg/g; Potassium, Neural Tube Defects 553.87±77.91 μg/g, control group 341.13±205.90 μg/g. Association was found at 75 percentile between aluminium plus silver, aluminium plus potassium, silver plus potassium, and potassium plus sodium.
Conclusion: In the hair of newborns with Neural Tube Defects, the following metals were increased: aluminium, silver. Given the neurotoxicity of the same, and association of Neural Tube Defects with aluminum and silver, one may infer that they may be participating as factors in the development of Neural Tube Defects.