EFFECTS OF CHRONIC DIETARY ALUMINUM ON LOCAL CEREBRAL GLUCOSE-UTILIZATION IN RATS

Beginning at 4 weeks of age normal, mate, Sprague-Dawley rats were reared on Purina Laboratory Chow and drinking water containing 100 mu M ALCL(3). After 2 years, local rates of cerebral glucose utilization were determined with the autoradiographie [14C] deoxyglucose method in the brain as a whole and in 25 brain regions in 6 treated rats and 4 age-matched controls. The results indicate that any effects of chronic aluminum in the diet on rates of cerebral glucose utilization are small. In the brain as a whole, the mean rate of glucose utilization in the aluminum-treated rats was 6% lower than that of the controls (p = 0.09). In 21 of the 25 brain regions examined mean rates of glucose utilization were generally lower in the aluminum-treated rats but in none of the regions were the effects statistically significant.