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A case of multiple sclerosis improvement following removal of heavy metal intoxication

Lessons learnt from Matteo’s case

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Abstract

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic progressive disease of the central nervous system (CNS) provoking disability and neurological symptoms. The exact causes of SM are unknown, even if it is characterized by focal inflammatory lesions in CNS accompanied by autoimmune reaction against myelin. Indeed, many drugs able to modulate the immune response of patients have been used to treat MS. More recently, toxic metals have been proposed as possible causes of neurodegenerative diseases. The objective of this study is to investigate in vivo the impact of heavy metal intoxication in MS progression. We studied the case of a patient affected by MS, who has been unsuccessfully treated for some years with current therapies. We examined his levels of toxic heavy metals in the urine, following intravenous “challenge” with the chelating agent calcium disodium ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA).The patient displayed elevated levels of aluminium, lead and mercury in the urine. Indeed, he was subjected to treatment with EDTA twice a month. Under treatment, the patient revealed in time improved symptoms suggestive of MS remission. The clinical data correlated with the reduction of heavy metal levels in the urine to normal range values. Our case report suggests that levels of toxic metals can be tested in patients affected by neurodegenerative diseases as MS.

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Acknowledgments

We thank MD, who encourage us to publish his clinical case, with the aim to possibly help other patients.

Conflict of interests

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interests.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Morfologia Umana e Scienze Biomediche “Città Studi”, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via L. Mangiagalli, 31, 20133, Milan, Italy

    Alessandro Fulgenzi, Sante Guido Zanella, Mario Mauro Mariani, Daniele Vietti & Maria Elena Ferrero

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  1. Alessandro Fulgenzi
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  2. Sante Guido Zanella
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  3. Mario Mauro Mariani
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  4. Daniele Vietti
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  5. Maria Elena Ferrero
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Correspondence to Maria Elena Ferrero.

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Fulgenzi, A., Zanella, S.G., Mariani, M.M. et al. A case of multiple sclerosis improvement following removal of heavy metal intoxication. Biometals 25, 569–576 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10534-012-9537-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10534-012-9537-7

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