ALUMINUM TOXICITY - THE RELEVANT ROLE OF THE METAL SPECIATION

Biological investigations on aluminum are inevitably complicated by th e hydrolysis of the metal compounds in aqueous solutions at physiologi cal pH. In vast majority of experimental protocols, Al(III) was mostly administered under ill-defined pH conditions and/or as an ill-defined mixture of various chemical species. In an attempt to evaluate and un derstand the biological effects of Al(III) with the aim to establish n ew chemical and biological heuristic models a general experimental str ategy based on the utilization of the Al(III) compounds differently hy drolytically sable with diverse hydrophobic/hydrophilic properties was developed in our laboratory and herein briefly described.