Safety and efficacy of oral DMSA therapy for children with autism spectrum disorders: Part A - Medical results

Phase 1 involved 65 children who received one round of DMSA (3 days). Participants who had high urinary excretion of toxic metals were selected to continue on to phase 2. In phase 2, 49 participants were randomly assigned in a double-blind design to receive an additional 6 rounds of either DMSA or placebo.DMSA greatly increased the excretion of lead, substantially increased excretion of tin and bismuth, and somewhat increased the excretion of thallium, mercury, antimony, and tungsten. There was some increase in urinary excretion of essential minerals, especially potassium and chromium. The Phase 1 single round of DMSA led to a dramatic normalization of RBC glutathione in almost all cases, and greatly improved abnormal platelet counts, suggesting a significant decrease in inflammation.Overall, DMSA therapy seems to be reasonably safe, effective in removing several toxic metals (especially lead), dramatically effective in normalizing RBC glutathione, and effective in normalizing platelet counts. Only 1 round (3 days) was sufficient to improve glutathione and platelets. Additional rounds increased excretion of toxic metals.Autism is a severe developmental disorder which involves social withdrawal, communication deficits, and stereotypic/repetitive behaviors. The cause(s) of autism are unknown, but both genetic and environmental factors have been implicated. One environmental factor that has received significant attention is the body burden of mercury and other toxic metals.Heavy metal toxicity can occur from either a high exposure or a decreased ability to excrete heavy metals, with the latter case seeming to be the primary issue in autism. The primary mechanism for excreting mercury and some other toxic metals from the body involves binding to glutathione and then being excreted in the bile [1]. Infants are especially vulnerable to metal poisoning because they are poor excretors due to low production of glutathione [2], and because they are usually on all-milk diets,