Thimerosal Alters Immune Function

[bloom]

Mercury Containing Preservative Alters Immune Function

By Neil Osterweil, Senior Associate Editor, MedPage Today
Reviewed by Zalman S. Agus, MD; Emeritus Professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

DAVIS, Calif., March 21 - Thimerosal, a mercury-containing organic no longer used as a preservative in many pediatric vaccines, can disrupt certain antigen presenting cells and may affect the immune response to external factors, reported investigators here.

...They found that at concentrations of 20 parts per billion, exposure of the dendritic cells to thimerosal altered the normal cross-talk between the calcium channels RyR12 and IP3R1, thereby "garbling the normal signaling system between them."

In addition, exposure to the compound resulted in irregular secretion by the dendritic cells of the pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-6...

The finding suggests that in addition to its known neurotoxic properties, ethylmercury may also be an immunotoxicant, the authors said.

"A practical implication of the present findings has relevance to the commercial uses of thimerosal as an antimicrobial agent in vaccines and consumer products since they identify dendritic cells as sensitive targets for thimerosal and ethylmercury-mediated dysfunction," they wrote. "Given the importance of dendritic cells as a front line in regulating lymphocyte mediated immunity and tolerance, altering dendritic cell functions by forms of ethylmercury should be considered when assessing contributions to altered immune function."

http://www.medpagetoday.com/InfectiousDisease/Vaccines/tb/2900

In other studies:

Mutter J, Naumann J, Schneider R, Walach H, Haley B
Mercury and autism: accelerating evidence?
Neuro Endocrinol Lett. 2005 Oct;26(5):439-46.

...Recently, it was found that autistic children had a higher mercury exposure during pregnancy due to maternal dental amalgam and thimerosal-containing immunoglobulin shots. It was hypothesized that children with autism have a decreased detoxification capacity due to genetic polymorphism. In vitro, mercury and thimerosal in levels found several days after vaccination inhibit methionine synthetase (MS) by 50%. Normal function of MS is crucial in biochemical steps necessary for brain development, attention and production of glutathione, an important antioxidative and detoxifying agent.

Repetitive doses of thimerosal leads to neurobehavioral deteriorations in autoimmune susceptible mice, increased oxidative stress and decreased intracellular levels of glutathione in vitro. Subsequently, autistic children have significantly decreased level of reduced glutathione. Promising treatments of autism involve detoxification of mercury, and supplementation of deficient metabolites.

http://www.neurotransmitter.net/autismgenetic.html

Cohly HH, Panja A
Immunological findings in autism.
Int Rev Neurobiol. 2005;71317-41.

The immunopathogenesis of autism is presented schematically in Fig. 1. Two main immune dysfunctions in autism are immune regulation involving pro-inflammatory cytokines and autoimmunity. Mercury and an infectious agent like the measles virus are currently two main candidate environmental triggers for immune dysfunction in autism. Genetically immune dysfunction in autism involves the MHC region, as this is an immunologic gene cluster whose gene products are Class I, II, and III molecules. Class I and II molecules are associated with antigen presentation. The antigen in virus infection initiated by the virus particle itself while the cytokine production and inflammatory mediators are due to the response to the putative antigen in question. The cell-mediated immunity is impaired as evidenced by low numbers of CD4 cells and a concomitant T-cell polarity with an imbalance of Th1/Th2 subsets toward Th2. Impaired humoral immunity on the other hand is evidenced by decreased IgA causing poor gut protection. Studies showing elevated brain specific antibodies in autism support an autoimmune mechanism...

http://www.neurotransmitter.net/autismgenetic.html

[Celebration]

1. The Age of Autism: Mercury creeps back in

So just when we think that people get it about our children being given thimerosal containing vaccines, what happens? Oh, just the flu shot being recommended for children--

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/lifestyle/consumerhealth/article_1148133.php/The_Age_of_Autism_Mercury_creeps_back_in

WASHINGTON, DC, United States (UPI) -- New calculations suggest children today can be exposed to more than half the mercury that was in vaccines in the 1990s, even though manufacturers began phasing it out in 1999.
Adjusted for a child`s body weight at the time of the shots, there`s virtually no reduction at all, according to this analysis.

The source: Flu vaccines, which have been recommended for millions more kids over 6 months old and pregnant women in the past few years. Most of those shots still contain the mercury-based preservative called thimerosal that some fear is behind a huge rise in autism diagnoses.

'It`s been under the radar and it`s allowed health officials to say, `We`ve taken it out of all the childhood vaccines,`' said Dr. David Ayoub, an Illinois anti-thimerosal activist who put the data together along with Maryland researchers David Geier and Dr. Mark Geier.

'They don`t consider influenza one of the mandated childhood vaccines yet,' Ayoub said. But because the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now recommends flu shots for all pregnant women and all children between 6 months and age 5, doctors routinely give them.

[lostnfound]

8. They are REALLY pushing those flu vaccines on pregnant women & kids now

Guess that's one way to make sure they still have a big market for Eli Lilly?

Too bad it's liable to confound the data on the thimerosol-vs-autism debate. The California rates are no longer climbing but they aren't exactly falling either.

[sui generis]

10. unfortunately also used in manufacture of certain street drugs

mercuric chloride - something else for meth monsters to think about, if they think at all.

[Duncan]

2. Thanks for posting this

I've thus far resisted most of my kids' "scheduled" vaccinations. I seems not a month goes by when I don't hear something that makes me glad that I don't vax.

[Celebration]

4. they don't generally contain thimerosal

This wouldn't apply, unless you were getting a vaccine that contains it. I avoid the flu vaccine though!!

[Warpy]

3. Clearinghouse for antivaccination quackery

http://www.geocities.com/issues_in_immunization/

Please don't take preliminary research into test tube oddities so very seriously, folks. To do so is to feed the quacks out there, and the quacks have absolutely no conscience when it comes to taking your money and exposing your kids to childhood diseases that can and do kill them.

Of course, disparaging science is so much easier than learning it.

[Celebration]

5. thimerosal

It's not even in most childhood vaccines any more. It is not an issue except when talking about those few that contain it.

Personally I think giving a flu vaccine with thimerosal in it to a child is a bad idea. We aren't talking polio here!!

[TheWraith]

6. This was the stuff in the Gulf War vaccines.

Remember the vaccines from the first Gulf War, the highly-questionable anthrax vaccines that were mandated for all US troops? This is the preservative that was used in them. It's worth noting that French veterans, whose commander refused to order the vaccines after he looked at the data on them, suffer ill effects at a rate less than 5% of that of US GW vets.

[RedOnce]

7. Here is a PDF of the full study text:

Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP) is a monthly journal of peer-reviewed research and news on the impact of the environment on human health. EHP is published by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

Environmental Health Perspectives: http://www.ehponline.org/docs/2006/8881/abstract.html


Uncoupling of ATP-mediated Calcium Signaling and Dysregulated IL-6 Secretion in Dendritic Cells by Nanomolar Thimerosal
Samuel R. Goth, Ruth A. Chu, Jeffrey P. Gregg, Gennady Cherednichenko, and Isaac N. Pessah

http://www.ehponline.org/members/2006/8881/8881.pdf

[back2basics909]

9. A tip on using that site...

You picked three articles from hundreds that mention thimerosal, mostly they are old articles. But a good way of seeing how good the research is, is to see how many other people quote that article in their own research. It's pretty much standard in practice in science, and even google uses a similar ranking method.

You can do this by clicking on the article and it will take you to the PubMed site. Then click on "Links" and selectd "cited" (if the option is not available it has never been cited).

Newer articles will not be cited. But mainly yours are old and are either not cited by anybody or just one of the other authers. This way you can gauge the quality of the research and how respected the author is, without understanding the science.

Mainly the research is on genetic links. I cannot find any recent research that contains thimerosal.

[Celebration]

11. excuse me??

Two look like they were 2005 and the first one was dated thusly--

Mercury Containing Preservative Alters Immune Function

By Neil Osterweil, Senior Associate Editor, MedPage Today
Reviewed by Zalman S. Agus, MD; Emeritus Professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.
March 21, 2006

This is breaking news...............

[bloom]

12. The main study I posted

- the one at the top was just posted on the web today - so I don't know where you get "But mainly yours are old".

The other ones are 2005s.


Sure there is a lot of stuff out there. These studies are related and interested me. If you want to post other studies - go right ahead.

[bloom]

13. Link to "Study links vaccines containing mercury with autism"

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=222&topic_id=5604&mesg_id=5604

http://www.healthsentinel.com/org_news.php?id=082&title=Study+links+vaccines+containing+mercury+with+autism&event=org_news_print_list_item

[RedOnce]

14. Thimerosal Supporters - Why would UC Davis...

spend good money to study bad science?

[Orrex]

17. Careful--it's not that we "support" Thimerosal

It's that we reject the poorly-controlled and anecdotal studies that the anti-Thimserosal crowd endlessly puts forth.

As to why UC Davis would study it, well, that's their business, isn't it? Plenty of universities have studied psychic phenomena; sometimes their methods of study are good and sometimes they are not.

It is a mistake to confuse "attention to" with "acceptance of" in any case. Creationists, for example, like to tout all the debates they've had with scientists, as if simply having the debate is sufficient proof of their crazy myths. Not so!

And the same is true here. Just because a university--even a respected one--studies a subject does not mean that the subject has been proven or is valid science.

[trotsky]

21. Sure we support thimerosal!

I support using it as a preservative in ALL foods, beverages, medicines, even as a sanitary rinse for baby pacifiers!

Have you had your thimerosal today? TM

Message brought to you by the Mercury Lovers of America.

[RedOnce]

23. Would you call this a "poorly-controlled and anecdotal study"?

[RedOnce]

15. Here is another article highlighting the study:

Research: Vaccine Ingredient Can Disrupt Immune System

Sci-Tech Today - March 21, 2006

In a study sure to fuel the controversy about the role of childhood vaccines in autism, scientists at UC Davis have found that a preservative used in some vaccines can disrupt the immune system, at least in mice. Study authors caution the findings do not specifically link use of thimerosal, which contains mercury, to autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders. "This is not a smoking gun," said Isaac Pessah, the University of California, Davis toxicologist who led the study for the university's MIND Institute and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

The results come seven years after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics asked drug makers to remove thimerosal from childhood vaccines. Except for trace amounts used in vaccine production, thimerosal is no longer used in childhood vaccines. The exception is the flu vaccine; although manufacturers are now producing a thimerosal-free version of the flu shot, the lion's share of vaccine supplies still contain the preservative. Concerns about the safety of the preservative grew after the Food and Drug Administration concluded that babies up to 6 months old were getting more mercury than considered acceptable by the Environmental Protection Agency. Several large-scale studies failed to established a link between mercury-containing vaccines and autism. Researchers now believe that autism is a disorder -- or group of disorders -- with many possible causes. A prevailing theory is that autism is caused by several genetic abnormalities, which may be the basis for a heightened susceptibility to certain chemical exposures.

He focused on a type of cell called a dendritic cell, which is responsible for marshalling the body's response to invaders such as bacteria, viruses or other antigens such as vaccine ingredients. "They take up those foreign substances and process them," he said. "Once they do that, they migrate to the lymph nodes to present their information to the other immune cells, which can activate a global immune response. " For his research, Pessah used a mouse strain not particularly sensitive to mercury or other heavy metals, and introduced concentrations of thimerosal comparable to those attained in childhood vaccinations that contain the preservative.

"What we found was rather unexpected," he said. "In fact, the dendritic cells seemed to be extremely sensitive to the effects of thimerosal. "Specifically, the thimerosal disrupted the normal biological signals that take place in cells, Pessah said. At lower concentrations, the signal disruption caused an inflammatory response; at higher concentrations it caused cell death. "One could imagine that as concentrations of thimerosal vary in the organisms, you could get a plethora of unwanted or uncontrolled effects," Pessah said. Pessah, who directs the Children's Center for Environmental Health and Disease Prevention at UC Davis, hopes now to determine whether dendritic cells from children with autism are particularly sensitive to the effects of thimerosal, various forms of mercury and other environmental toxicants.

http://www.sci-tech-today.com/story.xhtml?story_id=111000GLKKQL

[Orrex]

16. Another article "highlighting" the study

Read it here.

Faithful devotees of uncritical thinking will, of course, quickly dismiss Carroll's work as the obvious efforts of a man dedicated to pursuing an agenda of accepting only those medical or scientific claims that are based on evidence.

[RedOnce]

18. Good article.

[Orrex]

19. Hey, don't get all reasonable and cordial on me!

I was trying to be snarky. There you go, taking the wind out of my sails.

:)

[RedOnce]

20. I know you're really a nice guy...

I've read some of your posts in other forums. Intelligent and upbeat.

Just don't mention mercury or "Alternative Medicine"!!!

[Orrex]

22. There you go again

I'm trying to maintain my image as a hard-assed curmudgeon, and you have to go and blow my cover. Thanks a ton!


Thanks for the kind words, though! I confess, I haven't seen much of you outside of this forum. Where do you hang out?

[RedOnce]

24. GD, but it's pretty big and fast moving. I read more than I post there.

Actually, I did an "Orrex" search and discovered your softer side.

My current theory is that some Chinese guy hurt you with acupuncture needles when you were just a kid!