Re: ala without dmsa

Here is another link about ALA. The last info about the study showing the effectiveness of various chelators is interesting.


http://www.thorne.com/altmedrev/.fulltext/7/6/456.pdf


ALA has been shown to affect the release

of glutathione into bile secretions. In animal studies,

increasing amounts of glutathione in bile has

been shown to dramatically increase the release

of inorganic mercury. ALA given intravenously

to rats at doses of 37.5-300 μM/kg was shown to

increase inorganic mercury release in bile by

1,200-4,000 percent immediately after mercury

exposure.67 Levels of released inorganic mercury

remained at a 300-700 percent elevation, even

three hours after dosing with ALA. If mercury was

injected 24 hours prior to the administration of

ALA, the increase in release of inorganic mercury

was substantially less, but was still elevated 140-

330 percent. A lower dose of ALA (37.5 μM/kg)

was more effective than higher doses at increasing

the biliary elimination of methylmercury.

There was disconcerting evidence from

this study, however, that ALA may also alter the

tissue distribution of mercury and other heavy

metals.

Although levels of inorganic mercury and

methylmercury in the kidney dropped significantly,

levels of inorganic mercury also increased

significantly in the brain, lung, heart, and liver tissue.

Methylmercury levels had also increased in

the brain, intestine and muscle of the rats given

ALA. The same phenomenon occurred in rats exposed

to cadmium and given the same doses of

ALA. Levels of cadmium in the liver dropped

(where cadmium is most frequently stored) but

increased in the kidney and muscle. The same was

true in rats given copper and ALA; all tissues examined

had increased levels of copper, except for

the liver (where copper usually accumulates)

where levels had dropped.67 In all cases the pattern

was the same; the tissues that concentrated

the metal (blood, spleen, and kidneys in the case

of methylmercury) had reduced concentrations,

while other tissues appeared to have a greater concentration.

It goes on to say:

ALA versus Dithiol-based Chelating

Agents (DMPS, DMSA)

The ability of ALA to bind inorganic

mercury from rabbit renal tissue was compared

to glutathione and the chelators 2,3-

dimercaptopropane-1-sulfonate (DMPS), meso-

2,3-dimercapto- succinic acid (DMSA), penicillamine,

and ethylenediaminetetra acetic acid

(EDTA) (Figure 3).69

DMPS was the most efficient chelator,

removing 86 percent of the mercury in three

hours, with DMSA being the next-most efficient,

removing 65 percent of the mercury. In the same

time period, penicillamine removed 60 percent,

glutathione removed 50 percent, ALA removed

35 percent, and EDTA removed 20 percent. Only

the levels reached by DMSA and DMPS, however,

were statistically significantly different

from baseline (p<0.05). Therefore, the effect of

ALA and glutathione may show only a trend or

an apparent effect and are not comparable to

DMPS and DMSA. Although the actual effect of

a chelator or heavy metal-complexing agent cannot

be determined in a three-hour time period, and

acute doses of 10 mg/kg of inorganic mercury

would be considered highly toxic in an adult human,

there is evidence from this study that ALA

is a less efficient binder of inorganic mercury than

the recognized chelating agents, DMSA and

DMPS. All of the substances were used at a concentration

of 10 mM, a level difficult to reach with

ALA oral supplementation.

In another comparison study, ALA (25

mg/kg/day) resulted in an insignificant decrease

in blood and tissue lead in rats with lead toxicity

when compared to the dithiol-based chelating

agent, DMSA (dosed at 90 mg/kg/day) (Table 2).61

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