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Mercury Toxicity and Neurodegenerative Effects

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Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology

Part of the book series: Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology ((RECT,volume 229))

Abstract

Neurodegeneration is a broadly defined term that describes the loss of neuronal structure and function, and produces disorders known as neurodegenerative diseases. A common feature of neurodegeneration is the progressive cell loss in specific neuronal populations of the central nervous system (CNS), often associated with cytoskeletal protein changes that led to intracytoplasmic and/or intranuclear inclusions in neurons and/or glia. The neurological consequences of neurodegeneration in patients are often devastating and result in severe mental and physical effects, accounting for a large number of hospitalizations and disabilities. Although the causes of the majority of neurodegenerative diseases are still unknown, it has become increasingly clear that the major basic processes that induce neurodegeneration are multifactorial ones that are caused by genetic, endogenous, and environmental factors. Protein misfolding and aggregation, oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, and phosphorylation impairment are the major shared neurodegenerative pathogenic processes (Jellinger 2003).

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by grants from Ministero dell’Istruzione, dell’Università e della Ricerca (MIUR, Italy).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Farmacia-Scienze del Farmaco, Università degli Studi di Bari “A. Moro”, Bari, 70125, Italia

    Alessia Carocci

  2. Dipartimento di Farmacia e Scienze della Salute e della Nutrizione, Università della Calabria, Arcavacata di Rende (Cosenza), 87036, Italia

    Nicola Rovito, Maria Stefania Sinicropi & Giuseppe Genchi

Authors
  1. Alessia Carocci
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  2. Nicola Rovito
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  3. Maria Stefania Sinicropi
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  4. Giuseppe Genchi
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Maria Stefania Sinicropi or Giuseppe Genchi .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Summerfield, North Carolina, USA

    David M. Whitacre

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© 2014 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

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Carocci, A., Rovito, N., Sinicropi, M.S., Genchi, G. (2014). Mercury Toxicity and Neurodegenerative Effects. In: Whitacre, D. (eds) Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology. Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, vol 229. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-03777-6_1

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