Research: Safety and Efficacy of Oral DMSA Therapy for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: Part A – Medical Results

Authored by Adams, JB, Baral M., Geis E., Mitchell J., Ingram J., Hensley A., Zappia I., and Newmark S. in BMC Clinical Pharmacology, Volume 9, Issue , p. 16-38, (2009).

Article summary (posted Mar 4, 2010):

Oral dimercapto succinic acid (DMSA) therapy may be helpful in normalizing red blood cell glutathione levels in children with autism.

This study was designed to see if DMSA therapy (9 doses over 3 days, 10 mg/kg-dose) would cause children with autism to excrete toxic metals. DMSA was very good at causing lead to be released from the body. The children seemed to have less lead in their bodies after treatment than children in other research studies. Children were given 3 rounds of DMSA treatment. Researchers said that 80% of the children may need more than three rounds of DMSA treatment in order to remove all of the toxic metals. The authors said that DMSA therapy may reduce toxic metals and improve glutathione levels with few apparent side effects.

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You can access the original abstract and the complete paper is sometimes available for free via Google Scholar (look for entries that say "PDF" or "HTML" on the right side of the page).
adverse effects, autism, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), DMSA, effectiveness, glutathione (L-glutathione), lead, oral, safety, therapy, toxic, treatment
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