Neurotoxicology
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Dental amalgam is approximately 50% metallic mercury and releases mercury vapor into the oral cavity, where it is inhaled and absorbed. Maternal amalgams expose the developing fetus to mercury vapor. Mercury vapor can be toxic, but uncertainty remains whether prenatal amalgam exposure is associated with neurodevelopmental consequences in offspring. ⋯ We found no evidence of an association between our primary exposure metric, amalgam surfaces, and neurodevelopmental endpoints. Secondary analyses using occlusal points supported these findings, but suggested the possibility of an adverse association with the MDI for girls at 9 months. Given the continued widespread use of dental amalgam, we believe additional prospective studies to clarify this issue are a priority.
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Fibromyalgia, mood disorders, and intense creative energy: A1AT polymorphisms are not always silent.
Persons with single copies of common alpha-1-antitrypsin polymorphisms such as S and Z are often considered "silent carriers". Published evidence however supports a complex behavioral phenotype or trait - intense creative energy ("ICE")-associated with A1AT polymorphisms. We now confirm that phenotype and present an association of fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) and A1AT in a consecutive series of neurological patients. ⋯ High and low risk FMS subsets can be defined using A1AT, MTHFR and APOE genotyping. Clinical diagnoses associated with A1AT polymorphisms included fibromyalgia, JRA/JIA, bipolar disorder, PTSD, primary progressive aphasia and FTDPD, but not most Alzheimer Disease subtypes. These results support an extended phenotype for A1AT mutation carriers beyond liver and lung vulnerability to selective advantages: ICE phenotype and disadvantages: fibromyalgia, affective disorders, and selected late onset neurological syndromes.
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Epilepsy is a common neurological disorder characterized by an initial injury due to stroke, traumatic brain injury, brain infection, or febrile seizures causing status epilepticus (SE). This phenomenon precedes recurrent (secondary) seizures, the latent period (period without seizures) and downstream appearance of spontaneous recurrent seizures (SRS). Epilepsy inducers include the organophosphorous (OP) compounds modified as chemical warfare nerve agents, such as soman. ⋯ The soman seizure model is an important model of temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) and comparable in certain respects with well studied models in the literature such as pilocarpine and kainic acid. All these models together allow for a greater understanding of the different mechanisms of seizure induction, propagation and options for treatment. These studies are very necessary for current military and civilian treatment regimens, against OP nerve agent exposure, which fail to prevent SE resulting in severe neuropathology and epilepsy.