that they will beg us to accept their sponsorship.
This will be awesome. I will insist, though, that the deal includes both the horse used in the commercial and that they play the cool whistle tune every time I manage to crawl across a finish line. It will be pretty sweet to have all the deodorant, body wash, and intoxicating cologne that I can use, and I’m pretty sure I’ll frequently bathe in pure original scent aftershave, but should I take full advantage of their sponsorship by even more liberally coating myself with their antiperspirant than I do currently?
As a disgustingly sweaty person, I rotate through all of the industrial/clinical strength antiperspirants I can find, and there definitely seems to be a correlation between aluminum percentage and their effectiveness (aluminum is the only active ingredient, so this makes sense). However, I have heard, mostly from crotchety and cantankerous old men, that aluminum based antiperspirants might have some side-effects that are less than desirable. So I've been meaning to figure out what I think of Aluminum based antiperspirants for a while. One particularly senile geezer wondered if the same characteristics that make aluminum increase the effectiveness of vaccines might exacerbate autoimmune problems.
Initially, I figured that the answer would be contingent on the extent to which the Aluminum zirconium applied to the armpits could pass through the skin and whether any aluminum that did get through would show up systemically rather than just locally. It seemed that it would depend on whether or not the aluminum can be absorbed into the bloodstream through the skin to a degree significant enough to effect systemic concentrations. Of course it would also depend on the particular way in which the aluminum facilitates the immune response when included in vaccines. It could work by making the immune system more sensitive in general (which would seem to increase autoimmune and allergy issues), but it could also work by presenting the antigen of a particular vaccination in a way more conducive to developing the appropriate antibodies (which would seem to limit its effect on autoimmune issues).
First of all, can aluminum enter the bloodstream through the skin?
To me this seems to be the main question with respect to aluminum in deodorant, not only in the context of hyper-immune response but also because of the other potential problems with elevated aluminum levels (though I am not all convinced of the purported links to breast cancer and Alzheimer’s). The answer seems to be yes…but in very small amounts. In “A preliminary study of the dermal absorption of aluminium from antiperspirants using aluminium-26,” researchers used radioisotope tracing to show that 0.012% (or 2.5% of the average aluminum consumed daily in a typical diet) of topically applied aluminum made it into the blood stream. The problem is this study consisted of only two test subjects (one male and one female). I also found a case study of a woman whose high aluminum levels dropped markedly after she stopped using antiperspirant…but again only one person. I would guess that aluminum does not pass through the skin of most people very well, but that some people might have higher permeability than others.
If aluminum is absorbed through the skin, would elevated blood levels increase the probability and/or severity of autoimmune and allergic response?
The tetchy old man asked this question after reading the latest attempt to explain exactly why including aluminum in vaccines increases our immune response to the vaccination. In 1926, Alexander Glenny noticed that when he included aluminum potassium sulfate in his diphtheria and tetanus vaccinations, his patients produced more antibodies more quickly than those who didn’t receive aluminum. Today, aluminum is a very common adjuvant; a substance that increases the effectiveness of a vaccine by enhancing the immune response (ideally) without any additional side-effects. Here is the Science Daily article clumsily summarizing a recent article (found here in Trends in Immunology) that presents the latest attempts to understand how aluminum does this.
Scientists (starting with Glenny himself) have been trying to figure this out for quite a while, and I found a pretty good article published in Immunology last year—“Towards an understanding of the adjuvant action of aluminium [that’s how some, i.e. most people outside the U.S., spell it]”—that wonderfully presents the history of scientific attempts to figure out exactly how aluminum makes vaccinations more effective. I highly recommend the article. It would be perfect reading for an honors biology class just finishing up the immune system to review and show off what they’ve learned, while also illustrating the messy nature of real world science and the complexity of an informed answer. It also has several pretty pictures.
Glenn believed that aluminum primarily acted by increasing the duration of the antigens presence and slowing the rate of its dissolution in the blood:
Glenny believed that aluminium salts were effective adjuvants because they allowed antigen to remain in the body for a long time and because the antigen was slowly released from the insoluble salt particles, which allowed prolonged and effective stimulation of the immune system, an effect referred to as the ‘depot effect.’ (Mirrack, et. al 287)
Apparently, the "depot effect" was unquestionably accepted for about 60 years (288), but further studies have revealed that aluminum’s interaction with the immune system is much more complicated. It produces many pro-inflammatory cytokines at the sight of injection, including Interleukon-4:
…more recent experiments have shown that within hours of administration of aluminium salts to mice, pro-inflammatory mediators, such as interleukin-1β (Il-1β) 13, CC-chemokine ligand 2 (CCl2; also known as mCp1), CCl11 (also known as eotaxin) 7, histamine and Il-5 (A.S.m., unpublished observations), are detectable. Also, innate inflammatory cells, such as neutrophils, eosinophils, inflammatory monocytes, myeloid dendritic cells (DCs) and plasmacytoid DCs, are recruited to the site of aluminium salt injection within 1 day 7. Although the mediators that contribute to the recruitment of these infiltrating cell types have not yet been completely defined these data clearly show that aluminium salts have additional effects that account for their adjuvant properties. (288)
Though the details haven’t been worked out, aluminum affects antigen-presenting cells, promoting the uptake of antigens by macrophages (288).
Other interesting quotes:
“Il-4 induced by aluminium salts has a role in promoting TH2-cell-associated antibody production and TH2-cell responses, but has a more important role in inhibiting TH1-cell associated antibody production and TH1-cell responses.” (290)
“Together, these studies indicate that aluminium salts promote the recruitment of Il-4-producing eosinophils to the spleen, which in turn mediate the production of early IgM. Il-4 may also be involved in increasing the accessibility of the B-cell IgE locus to factors that are required for class switching and in suppressing the events that are required for TH1 cells to develop during Priming.” (290)
Mirrach and his colleagues close their article by acknowledging the work remaining to be done:
Recent studies have increased our knowledge of the biological events that are induced following the administration of aluminium salts. However, the mechanisms that are required for the subsequent induction of the adaptive immune response are still debated. Some additional questions remain to be answered and some important discrepancies need to be resolved: is there a specific cellular receptor that recognizes aluminium salts? …Is there a biological role for the induction of Il-1β secretion and for neutrophil accumulation? response? Finally, after over 80 years of research, there is still no definitive proof for Glenny’s original hypothesis that the depot effect of aluminium salts contributes to their adjuvant action.
The new article highlighted in Science Daily provides some interesting insight into the ways in which aluminum might interact with other chemicals in the body. They also provide a hint of an answer to the autoimmune exacerbation question under the head of ‘indirect adjuvanticity’: “there are burgeoning examples in the scientific literature of aluminium salts inducing sensitization to substances that might not normally be considered as antigens. For example, such effects may contribute towards allergies to foods” (Exley, et. al 107).
They conclude:
However, does the new research explain the mechanism of action of clinically approved Al? The answer is ‘probably not,’ as the appropriate experiments, particularly in humans, remain to be carried out. Taking all evidence as a whole, someone with a ‘feeling’ for the biological chemistry of aluminium might still favour one or a combination of mechanisms relating to the classical ‘depot’ effect as the likely primary mode of action of ‘true’ Al, with the one proviso that we, as individuals, will not all respond in an identical manner, either in the short or long term, to injection of aluminium into our tissue. (108)
And, that’s probably the most telling statement that I read. If the ones studying the effects of aluminum have decided to avoid it then maybe we should think twice too. Still, even if aluminum passes through the skin in large enough amounts to exacerbate autoimmune and allergy symptoms, those problems that are serious should be noticeable and should be cured by simply trading the offending deodorant for stench. It does seem like those predisposed towards autoimmune and allergy problems might want to avoid it, though, until better studies are done.
My plan is to liberally apply the clinical strength Old Spice from the back the horse upon which I am taking a lap in celebration of my latest victory... until I go into anaphylactic shock or break out in crazy hives. Still, I might think about keeping any epi pin handy, and I might think twice if I discover any allergies.
