title: Recent advance in the therapy of metal poisonings with chelating agents.
abstract: 1 A survey is given of the use of chelating agents in the treatment of metal poisonings. 1 The complexing agents in established clinical use are the polyaminopolycarboxylic acid EDTA (ethylenediamine tetraacetate) and the thiols BAL (2, 3-dimercaptopropanol) and D-penicillamine. Desferrioxamine is useful in the treatment of iron overloading. 2 The theoretical foundation of the metal-ligand interaction and some general principles of value in the search for new metal antidotes are outlined. 3 Recent research has shown that 2, 3-dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMS) and 2, 3-dimercaptopropane-1-sulphonate (DMPS) are effective in mercury and arsenic poisonings. 4 DMS and DMPS are of significantly lower toxicity than BAL, and they can be administered orally or intravenously. 5 A particularly low toxicity of DMS is reported from clinical and experimental studies, and this agent may be useful against several metal poisonings including mercury, lead and gold.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism; D002614:Chelating Agents / Q000378:metabolism / Q000627:therapeutic use* / Q000633:toxicity; D055598:Chemical Phenomena; D002621:Chemistry; D004355:Drug Stability; D006801:Humans; D007700:Kinetics; D008670:Metals / Q000506:poisoning*
chemical_list: D002614:Chelating Agents; D008670:Metals