Thimerosal neurotoxicity is associated with glutathione depletion

NIH.gov ^ | January, 2005

[Coleus]

Thimerosol, a preservative developed by Eli Lily, was once widely used in vaccines. That was until it was identified as the source of the largest exposure to mercury in the United States in children under 18 months of age and mandated to be removed from vaccines. However, amazingly, despite its well-documented potential toxic effects, this harmful preservative remains present in the flu vaccine, which is given to pregnant women, the elderly and children.

A team of researchers examined the toxicity of thimerosal within the body including neurons. They explored:

• Neurotoxic mechanisms
• How the body detoxifies mercury
• The use of N-Acetylcysteine (or NAC) in aiding the detoxification pathway within the body

Ordinarily, the brain and liver can manufacture enough glutathione (an essential antioxidant and naturally occurring tripeptide made of cysteine, glutamate, and glycine) to protect your body from exposure to various heavy metals, including mercury. When this critical compound is depleted in your body, however, the mercury that is left can bind with cellular proteins, can lead to toxic damage.

Studies have indicated low incredibly tiny concentrations of thimerosal induced:

• DNA strand breaks
• Caspase-3 activation
• Membrane damage
• Cell death

Researchers also found that higher concentrations of thimerosal lead to a greater number of cells that were killed, and the nerve cell response occurred with only a three-hour exposure.

Neurotoxicology January 2005;26(1):1-8

 

1: Neurotoxicology. 2005 Jan;26(1):1-8.

Related Articles,

 
Thimerosal neurotoxicity is associated with glutathione depletion: protection with glutathione precursors.

James SJ, Slikker W 3rd, Melnyk S, New E, Pogribna M, Jernigan S.

Department of Pediatrics, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and Arkansas Children's Hospital Research Institute, Little Rock, AR 72202, USA. jamesjill@uams.edu

Thimerosol is an antiseptic containing 49.5% ethyl mercury that has been used for years as a preservative in many infant vaccines and in flu vaccines. Environmental methyl mercury has been shown to be highly neurotoxic, especially to the developing brain.

Because mercury has a high affinity for thiol (sulfhydryl (-SH)) groups, the thiol-containing antioxidant, glutathione (GSH), provides the major intracellular defense against mercury-induced neurotoxicity. Cultured neuroblastoma cells were found to have lower levels of GSH and increased sensitivity to thimerosol toxicity compared to glioblastoma cells that have higher basal levels of intracellular GSH. Thimerosal-induced cytotoxicity was associated with depletion of intracellular GSH in both cell lines.

Pretreatment with 100 microM glutathione ethyl ester or N-acetylcysteine (NAC), but not methionine, resulted in a significant increase in intracellular GSH in both cell types. Further, pretreatment of the cells with glutathione ethyl ester or NAC prevented cytotoxicity with exposure to 15 microM Thimerosal. Although Thimerosal has been recently removed from most children's vaccines, it is still present in flu vaccines given to pregnant women, the elderly, and to children in developing countries. The potential protective effect of GSH or NAC against mercury toxicity warrants further research as possible adjunct therapy to individuals still receiving Thimerosal-containing vaccinations.

PMID: 15527868 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

The moronic stupidity of the AMA and FDA can be explained by their being staffed with people too interested in profit margins, golfing, and resort vacations, not enough interest in studying. Meanwhile congressmen and senators who have been bought by the pharmaceutical indsutry turn a blind eye to the poisoning of Americans.

[Born Conservative]

Thanks for clarifying. The way it was posted led me to believe it was part of the link, and thus the abstract.

[Coleus]

Yes, all except one Rep.  Dan Burton whose grandson has autism.

[anymouse]

Sounds like something that the dental industry cooked up to protect their collective hides from class action lawsuits. I had a mouth full of amalgam (Mercury alloy) fillings removed about 6 years ago. Noticeable health improvements since then.

Of course finding a toothpaste that didn't contain the "natural" detergent/foaming agent, Sodium Laural Sulfate, did a world a good in avoiding asthma reactions.

Different people's immune systems react differently to different substances, but one should start by removing exposure to known hazards like Mercury. It's not like we are in the 18th Century and don't know the harmful effects of the stuff.

[Nov3]

If thimerosal is the culprit, then I think epidemiologists or administrators for special education funding might have started to notice a decrease in the incidence of the diagnoses of autistic spectrum disorders.

I hope so. I don't know if mercury is the culprit but a boy in my daughters class changes personality when he has had his chelation therapy recently. He spontaneously talks and interacts. Just one case. He also improved when they removed wheat from his diet. I am glad this is their load to carry.

[Nov3]

How Anti-Amalgamists Swindle People

I am not putting mercury in my mouth.

[Coleus]

Aluminum cookpans cause Alzheimer's. >>

Cause? There is a high concentration of AL in Alz. pts. and the medical establishment hasn't determined whether it's a cause of the disease or a result of the disease, one thing for sure, the brain does have High Amts. of AL in Alz. pts. I'll continue to use good ol' stainless steel. I don't think AL is good for anything in the body so why cook with it?

[Judith Anne]

When I used solution containing thimerisol for my contact lens (before I had radial keratotomy surgery), I got a bright red ring around my iris...No pain, no itch, but very strange looking. Doctor said, "don't use it."

[fatima]

What does this have to do with abortion Coleus?

[Coleus]

Post 16. The vaccine issue is interrelated, we use aborted fetal lines in embryonic stem cells to develop many vaccines then once the vaccine is made they put a substance, mercury, a poison where it is banned in HS Chemistry labs and a controlled and monitored substance in dental offices, into child vaccines as a preservative. Neurotoxins for all.

[fatima]

we use aborted fetal lines in embryonic stem cells to develop many vaccines .What vaccines?

[Coleus]

The vaccines we give children when they get their immunization shots.

[fatima]

Why is this in chat? Just noticed .

[Coleus]

Aborted Fetal Cell Line Vaccines - A Moral Perspective

For over 30 years Merck has been using aborted fetal cell lines in the production of vaccines,

Vaccine Sources & Fetal Cell Lines

PROVE IT!, more proof

Read What They're Saying

[SunkenCiv]

http://yarchive.net/med/aluminum.html

[Coleus]

What do you thing about the correlation of high homocysteine levels and alzheimer's?

[SunkenCiv]

copper, which humans need in trace amounts, can build up, causing symptoms often mistaken for MS, cerebral palsy, and some other things. It's very rare, and is a genetic mutation that makes sufferers unable to purge copper from their bodies. Examples of copper-rich foods are mushrooms. Anyway, its treatment is chelation therapy. I'd never heard of this real illness until a friend told me about it. He has it, and (at that time) believed he was the oldest living Wilson's Disease patient. Because its rare, it is often undiagnosed, and frequently unheard of by doctors. It's easy to diagnose apparently, if one knows what one is looking for.

Wilson's Disease:
http://www.wilsonsdisease.org/

[SunkenCiv]

I've observed dementia in some folks with advanced alcoholism. Apparently Homocysteine is also "tied to depression in Parkinson's patients", and is produced when the body consumes protein (metabolized by the liver). Could be an unexpected problem down the road for high-protein dieters? :')

[links]

Homocysteine and alcoholism.
Bleich S, Degner D, Javaheripour K, Kurth C, Kornhuber J.
Department of Psychiatry, Georg-August-University of Gottingen, Federal Republic of Germany. stefan.bleich@t-online.de
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=11205139&dopt=Abstract

Plasma homocysteine as a risk factor for dementia and Alzheimer's disease.
Seshadri S, Beiser A, Selhub J, Jacques PF, Rosenberg IH, D'Agostino RB, Wilson PW, Wolf PA.
Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine, MA 02118-2526, USA.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=11844848

[SunkenCiv]

Turns out, I had heard of it, but forgot:

'Polypill' could slash heart attacks and strokes
by Shaoni Bhattacharya
17:17 26 June 03

The proposal is underpinned by a massive analysis of earlier trials of drugs that can lower different aspects of the risk of cardiovascular disease. Over 750 trials involving 400,000 people were assessed. However, the "Polypill" has yet to be tested in any clinical trials. The pill would combine different drugs to try to lower the four key risk factors for heart disease: cholesterol, high blood pressure, high homocysteine blood levels and blood platelet function. A statin would reduce high levels of the "bad" LDL cholesterol, slashing the risk of heart disease, while three blood pressure lowering drugs would reduce stroke risk, says Wald. Folic acid in the pill would cut high homocysteine levels, which can encourage the build up of fatty plaques in arteries. And finally aspirin would be added to regulate the function of blood platelets. Overall, the wonder pill would cut the risk of heart disease by 88 per cent and stroke by 80 per cent, the scientists estimate. The pill could also be produced cheaply, says Wald, as the patents on many of the components have expired or will do soon. Eventually the drug could be given to everyone over 55, without requiring a medical examination, says Wald. He believes that age is a more powerful predictor of cardiovascular disease than the risk factors usually considered.

[Coleus]

Thanks, I had "heard" of Wilson's disease once before but couldn't remember what it was all about.

Years ago, Carlton Fredericks talked on WOR radio and in his column in Prevention about high levels of copper in the blood causing mental illness. He went on to tell us a story about a teenage girl who was institutionalized with mental illness, turns out she had a high copper level in her blood from drinking tea in a copper lined pot and other reasons and once they found out, chelation an zinc therapy cured her of her mental illness.