Removal of dental amalgam decreases autoantibodies

anti-TPO and anti-Tg autoantibodies in patients with autoimmune thyroiditis.

Institute of Immunology and Microbiology, 1st Medical Faculty, Charles University, and General Faculty Hospital, Prague, Czech Republic. <mailto:ister@lf1.cuni.cz>ister@lf1.cuni.cz.

OBJECTIVES: The impact of dental amalgam removal on the

levels of anti- thyroid peroxidase (anti-TPO) and antithyroglobulin

(anti-Tg) antibodies was studied in patients with

autoimmune thyroiditis (AT) with and without mercury allergy.

METHODS: Thirty-nine patients with AT were tested by an optimized lymphocyte proliferation test, MELISA(R) for allergy

(hypersensitivity) to inorganic mercury. Patients were divided into two groups: Group I (n =3D 12) with no hypersensitivity to mercury and Group II (n =3D 27) with hypersensitivity to mercury. Amalgam fillings were removed from the oral cavities of 15 patients with hyperensitivity to mercury (Group IIA) and left in place in the remaining 12 patients (Group IIB). The laboratory markers of AT, anti-TPO and anti-Tg autoantibodies were determined in all groups at the beginning of the study and six months later.

RESULTS: Compared to levels at the beginning of the study,

only patients with mercury hypersensitivity who underwent amalgam replacement (Group IIA) showed a significant decrease in the levels of both anti-Tg (p=3D0.001) and anti-TPO

(p=3D0.0007) autoantibodies. The levels of autoantibodies in patients with or without mercury hypersensitivity (Group I and Group IIB) who did not replace amalgam did not change.

CONCLUSION: Removal of mercury-containing dental

amalgam in patients with mercury hypersensitivity may contribute to successful treatment of autoimmune thyroiditis.

PMID: 16804512 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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Metal-specific lymphocytes: biomarkers

of sensitivity in man.

Stejskal VD, Danersund A, Lindvall A, Hudecek R, Nordman V, Yaqob A, Mayer W, Bieger W, Lindh U. Dept Clinical Chemistry, Danderyd Hospital and Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden. vera.melisa@swipnet.se

Many patients attribute their health problems to amalgam and other dental metals. In genetically susceptible indviduals, mercury and gold may function as haptens and elicit allergic and autoimmune reactions. The frequency of metalinduced lymphocyte responses was examined in 3,162 patients in three European laboratories using MELISA(R), an optimized lymphocyte proliferation test. The patients suffered from local and systemic symptoms attributed to dental restorations. The effect of dental metal removal was studied in 111 patients with metal hypersensitivity and symptoms resembling Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS). After consultation with a dentist the patients decided to replace their metal restorations with non-metallic materials. The changes in health and in vitro lymphocyte reactivity were studied by inquiries and follow-up MELISA(R). Lymphocyte reactivity was also analyzed in 116 healthy subjects with no complaints of metal allergy. A significant number of patients had metal-specific lymphocytes in the blood. Nickel was the most common sensitizer, followed by inorganic mercury, gold, phenylmercury, cadmium and palladium. As compared to lymphocyte responses in healthy subjects, the CFS group had significantly increased responses to several metals, especially to inorganic mercury, phenylmercury and gold. Following dental metal removal, 83 patients (76%) reported long-term health improvement. Twenty-four patients

(22%) reported unchanged health and two (2%) reported

worsening of symptoms. Following dental metal

replacement, the lymphocyte reactivity to metals decreased as well. We propose that an inflammatory process induced by metals may modulate the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA axis) and trigger multiple non-specific symptoms characterizing CFS and other chronic conditions like myalgic encephalitis (ME) and multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS).

PMID: 11460087 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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Retrograde degeneration of neurite

membrane structural integrity of nerve

growth cones following in vitro exposure

to mercury

Christopher C. W. Leong*, Naweed I. Syed†, Fritz L. Lorscheider‡ NeuroReport Volume 12, number 4, 733-737. *Faculty of Medicine, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Calgary, 3330 Hospital Drive NW, Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2N 4N1; †Faculty of Medicine, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Calgary, 3330 Hospital Drive NW, Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2N 4N1; ‡Faculty of Medicine, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Calgary, 3330 Hospital Drive NW, Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2N 4N1 Received 6 December 2000, Accepted 21 December 2000

ABSTRACT

Inhalation of mercury vapor (Hg0) inhibits binding of GTP to rat brain tubulin, thereby inhibiting tubulin polymerization into microtubules. A similar molecular lesion has also been observed in 80% of brains from patients with Alzheimer disease (AD) compared to age-matched controls. However the precise site and mode of action of Hg ions remain illusive. Therefore, the present study examined whether Hg ions could affect membrane dynamics of neurite growth cone morphology and behavior. Since tubulin is a highly conserved cytoskeletal protein in both vertebrates and invertebrates, we hypothesized that growth cones from animal species could be highly susceptible to Hg ions. To test this possibility, the identified, large Pedal A (PeA) neurons from the central ring ganglia of the snail Lymnaea stagnalis were cultured for 48 h in 2 ml brain conditioned medium (CM). Following neurite outgrowth, metal chloride solution (2 ml) of Hg, Al, Pb, Cd, or Mn (10–7 M) was pressure applied directly onto individual growth cones. Time-lapse images with inverted microscopy were acquired prior to, during, and after the metal ion exposure. We demonstrate that Hg ions markedly disrupted membrane structure and linear growth rates of imaged neurites in 77% of all nerve growth cones. When growth cones were stained with antibodies specific for both tubulin and actin, it was the tubulin/microtubule structure that disintegrated following Hg exposure. Moreover, some denuded neurites were also observed to form neurofibrillary aggregates. In contrast, growth cone exposure to other metal ions did not effect growth cone morphology, nor was their motility rate compromised. To determine the growth suppressive effects of Hg ions on neuronal sprouting, cells were cultured either in the presence or absence of Hg ions. We found that in the presence of Hg ions, neuronal somata failed to sprout, whereas other metalic ions did not effect growth patterns of cultured PeA cells. We conclude that this visual evidence and previous biochemical data strongly implicate Hg as a potential etiological factor in neurodegeneration. http://www.neuroreport.com/ On-line version: http://ipsapp002.lwwonline.com/J=1860&I=88&A=21&U=1&T

=0

Full pdf version: http://ipsapp002.lwwonline.com/J=1860&I=88&A=21&U=1&T

=2 or hgneurites ( Environmental Physician)