Kk. Divine et al., Quantitative particle-induced X-ray emission imaging of rat olfactory epithelium applied to the permeability of rat epithelium to inhaled aluminum, CHEM RES T, 12(7), 1999, pp. 575-581
Neurotoxicity from chronic metal inhalation has been suggested as an underl
ying contributor to late-developing neurodegenerative diseases that have sy
mptoms similar to Alzheimer's and Parkinson's syndromes. If inhaled metals
contribute to pathogenesis of these diseases, identifying, localizing, and
quantitating metal deposition(s) within specific target regions of the cent
ral nervous system will be critical to our understanding of the mechanisms.
Standard analytical techniques used to date require exposure to extremely
high concentrations of metals to meet analytical detection limits in small
tissue areas. The relevance to lower-dose environmentally relevant exposure
s and potential protective barriers is therefore questionable. The feasibil
ity of microbeam particle-induced X-ray emission is investigated as a metho
d for rapidly scanning tissues to study the inhalation of metals, nasal per
meability, and central nervous system deposition. The optimal beam spot and
analysis time used to image the rat olfactory epithelium to facilitate the
rapid detection of aluminum localizations were determined. Measurements of
aluminum localizations in rat olfactory bulb and brain sections are also p
resented.