Bone marrow aluminium storage in renal failure.

Using the staining method for aluminium with the ammonium salt of aurine tricarboxylic acid, aluminon, 18 patients with end stage renal disease gave positive reactions in iliac crest bone biopsies and 11 of these had positive staining in the bone marrow. In one the marrow was positive and the bone negative. The marrow reaction is putatively regarded as caused by aluminium storage in unidentified cells, possibly of the macrophage system which are strongly fluorescent when examined after prior tetracycline labelling. Marrow storage should be considered when assessing the bone aluminium burden.