title: A case of multiple sclerosis improvement following removal of heavy metal intoxication: lessons learnt from Matteo's case.
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.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Morfologia Umana e Scienze Biomediche Città Studi, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via L. Mangiagalli, 31, 20133 Milan, Italy. alessandro.fulgenzi@unimi.it
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fulgenzi
authors.forename: Sante Guido
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Zanella
authors.forename: Mario Mauro
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Mariani
authors.forename: Daniele
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Vietti
authors.forename: Maria Elena
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Ferrero
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002614:Chelating Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004492:Edetic Acid; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019216:Metals, Heavy / Q000378:metabolism*; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D002614:Chelating Agents; D019216:Metals, Heavy; D004492:Edetic Acid