Time-dependent actions of aluminates on membrane and action potentials of snail neurons

Our experiments show that Al can induce differential membrane effects depending on the presence of various aluminium compounds. Namely, the predominate aluminium-monomer at pH 7.7 the Al(OH)4 might cause depolarization but the polynuclear aluminium complexes after polymerization of the monomers could hyperpolarize the neuronal membrane. We suppose, that the time-dependent equilibrium of various aluminium complexes plays a role in generating controversies in this field and emphasize again the importance of standardization of the experimental protocol.