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Ethyl Mercury - Thimerosal

Published: 2005
SYNOPSIS

Many heavy metals increase the apparent toxicity of low levels of mercury.

TITLE

Mercury toxicity: Genetic susceptibility and synergistic effects

CITATION

Haley BE. Medical Veritas. 2005;2:535–542.

SUMMARY

This article discusses mercury intoxication and several normally appearing factors that increase the susceptibility to mercury toxicity. Boys with autism represent a subset of the population that is more susceptible to the toxic effects of mercury and thimerosal because they are not efficient excretors of these toxic materials. Research confirms that a lead-toxic person would be more susceptible to mercury toxicity than a healthy, non-toxic person. Researchers routinely observe that many heavy metals increase the apparent toxicity of low levels of mercury. In other words, the synergistic effects of other heavy metals, diet, antibiotics, etc. on mercury toxicity make it impossible to define a “safe level of mercury exposure.”

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Published: 2005
SYNOPSIS

Vaccine mercury depletes a vital antioxidant, glutathione.

TITLE

Thimerosal Neurotoxicity is Associated with Glutathione Depletion: Protection with Glutathione Precursors

CITATION

S.J. James, William Slikker, Stepan Melnyk, Elizabeth New,
Marta Pogribna, Stefanie Jernigan. NeuroToxicology, 26 (2005) 1–8.

SUMMARY

“Thimerosal 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 thimerosal 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. 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.”

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Published: 2004
SYNOPSIS

Scientists identify vaccine mercury’s role in blocking crucial neurodevelopmental pathways.

TITLE

Activation of methionine synthase by insulin-like growth factor-1 and dopamine: a target for neurodevelopmental toxins and thimerosal

CITATION

M Waly, H Olteanu, R Banerjee, S-W Choi, JB Mason, BS Parker, S Sukumar, S Shim,
A Sharma, JM Benzecry, V-A Power-Charnitsky and RC Deth. Molecular Psychiatry , (2004) 9, 358–370.

SUMMARY

“The ethylmercury-containing preservative thimerosal inhibited both IGF-1- and dopamine-stimulated methylation with an IC50 of 1nM and eliminated MS activity. Our findings outline a novel growth factor signaling pathway that regulates MS activity and thereby modulates methylation reactions, including DNA methylation. The potent inhibition of this pathway by ethanol, lead, mercury, aluminum and thimerosal suggest that it may be an important target of neurodevelopmental toxins.”

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Published: 2000
SYNOPSIS

Infants receiving mercury-containing vaccines developed speech disorders, sleep disorders and autism, according to CDC scientists.

TITLE

Increased risk of developmental neurologic impairment after high exposure to thimerosal-containing vaccine in first month of life

CITATION

Verstraeten TM, Davies R, Gu D, DeStefano F. Proceedings of the Epidemic Intelligence Service Annual Conference, April 2000.

SUMMARY

“This analysis suggests that high exposure to ethylmercury from thimerosal-containing vaccines in the first month of life increases the risk of subsequent development of neurologic development impairment.”

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Published: 2000
SYNOPSIS

Vaccines with mercury significantly raised the body levels of mercury in infants.

TITLE

Iatrogenic exposure to mercury after hepatitis B vaccination in preterm infants

CITATION

Gregory V. Stajich, Gaylord P. Lopez, Sokei W. Harry, and William R. Sexson. Journal of Pediatrics, 2000, 136, 679-81.

SUMMARY

“Thimerosal, a derivative of mercury, is used as a preservative in hepatitis B vaccines. We measured total mercury levels before and after the administration of this vaccine in 15 preterm and 5 term infants. Comparison of pre- and post-vaccination mercury levels showed a significant increase in both preterm and term infants after vaccination. Additionally, post-vaccination mercury levels were significantly higher in preterm infants as compared with term infants. Because mercury is known to be a potential neurotoxin to infants, further study of its pharmacodynamics is warranted.”

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Published: 1998
SYNOPSIS

A high percentage of autistic children with positive antibodies to the measles and/or human herpesvirus-6 (HHV-6) also have autoantibodies to brain components. Might the MMR vaccine be an early event in brain autoimmunity?

TITLE

Serological association of measles virus and human herpesvirus-6 with brain autoantibodies in autism.

CITATION

Singh VK, Lin SX, Yang VC. Clin Immunol Immunopathol. 1998 Oct;89(1):105-8.

SUMMARY

Environmental exposures to toxins as well as viral infections are known to be triggers for autoimmunity. Individuals with autism suffer from a variety of immunological abnormalities with 55-70% having autoantibodies to brain antigens that include myelin basic protein (MBP), neuron-axon filament proteins (NAFP), and serotonin receptor. Many parents have reported the onset of autism soon after receiving a vaccine for the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) and/or diptheria-pertussis-tetanus (DPT). The authors point out that both measles virus and human herpesvirus-6 (HHV-6) can manifest neurologic sequelae, show molecular mimicry with MBP and NAFP, and are associated with demyelination. To understand a possible association of viruses to brain autoimmunity, these researchers investigated virus serology of the measles virus and HHV-6. Children diagnosed with autism using the DSM-IIIR criteria were compared to normal controls. Both the controls and the children with autism had a high percentage of positive titers to measles as well as HHV-6 antibodies. According to the authors this was to be expected given that, “A high proportion (78%) of general populations is known to have positive titers of HHV-6 antibody.” The high percentage of measles antibody titers (85%) in children with autism was also expected. There is a high rate of seroconversion post MMR vaccination and none of the children had a history of exposure to the wild-type measles infection. An interesting finding was revealed when comparing the virus serology to brain autoantibodies. Among the control group, there were no brain autoantibodies found in any participant. However, among autistic subjects:

“approximately 90% of measles-IgG-positive sera also had anti-MBP”

“73% of measles-IgG- positive sera also had anti-NAFP”

“84% of HHV-6-IgG-positive sera also had anti-MBP”

“72% of HHV-6-IgG-positive sera also had anti-NAFP.”

“the higher the virus antibody titer the greater the chance of brain autoantibody”

The report closing by stating, “In conclusion, we suggest that while the etiology is not known, it is quite instructive to consider environmental factors, for example measles virus and HHV-6, as etiological agents linked to autoimmunity in autism.”

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