Administration of aluminium to neonatal mice in vaccine-relevant amounts is associated with adverse long term neurological outcomes
Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry
Volume 128, November 2013, Pages 237-244
Administration of aluminium to neonatal mice in vaccine-relevant amounts is associated with adverse long term neurological outcomes
C.A.Shaw a b c, Y.LiaL.Tomljenovic a
a Dept. of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
b Program in Experimental Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
c Program in Neuroscience, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Received 6 May 2013, Revised 10 July 2013, Accepted 13 July 2013, Available online 19 July 2013.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinorgbio.2013.07.022
Highlights
• Aluminium (Al) salts are the most widely used vaccine adjuvants today.
• Al adjuvants can persist in the body long-term and penetrate the blood-brain barrier.
• Al adjuvants can trigger adverse neurobehavioral outcomes in vaccine-relevant exposures.
• Efforts should be made to reduce Al exposure from vaccines.
Abstract
Our previous ecological studies of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has demonstrated a correlation between increasing ASD rates and aluminium (Al) adjuvants in common use in paediatric vaccines in several Western countries. The correlation between ASD rate and Al adjuvant amounts appears to be dose-dependent and satisfies 8 of 9 Hill criteria for causality. We have now sought to provide an animal model to explore potential behavioural phenotypes and central nervous system (CNS) alterations using s.c. injections of Al hydroxide in early postnatal CD-1 mice of both sexes. Injections of a “high” and “low” Al adjuvant levels were designed to correlate to either the U.S. or Scandinavian paediatric vaccine schedules vs. control saline-injected mice. Both male and female mice in the “high Al” group showed significant weight gains following treatment up to sacrifice at 6 months of age. Male mice in the “high Al” group showed significant changes in light–dark box tests and in various measures of behaviour in an open field. Female mice showed significant changes in the light–dark box at both doses, but no significant changes in open field behaviours. These current data implicate Al injected in early postnatal life in some CNS alterations that may be relevant for a better understanding of the aetiology of ASD.
