Romanian Society of Pharmaceutical Sciences
 

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MERCURY EXPOSURE: NOVEL THERAPEUTIC APPROACHES

RADU CIPRIAN ŢINCU 1,2, CRISTIAN COBILINSCHI 3, OANA ANDREIA COMAN 4, LAURENŢIU COMAN 5, IULIA FLORENTINA ŢINCU 6,7*, RADU ALEXANDRU MACOVEI 1,2

1.Critical Care Toxicology Unit, Clinical Emergency Hospital Bucharest, Romania
2 .Discipline of Toxicology, Department of Orthopaedics - Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care, Faculty of Medicine, “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania
3 .Anesthesiology Intensive Care Unit, Clinical Emergency Hospital Bucharest, Romania
4 .Discipline of Pharmacology and Pharmacotherapy, Faculty of Medicine, “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania
5 .Physiology Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania
6 .“Dr. Victor Gomoiu” Clinical Children Hospital, Bucharest, Romania
7 .Discipline of Paediatrics, Department of Paediatrics and Genetics, Faculty of Medicine, “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania

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In the past decade, it has been a focus on chronic, low or moderate exposure to methylmercury and some randomized control trials draw the attention on health implications of low-grade mercury toxicity. This study was aimed to evaluate efficacy of a combined treatment in mercury exposed patients. Subjects were randomized to receive chelation therapy alone or chelation therapy associated with a combination of Silybum marianum (172 mg), N-Acetyl-Cysteine (200 mg), L-Glutathione (25 mg), Vitamin C (120 mg), Selenium (100 μg), Helianthus tuberosus, Taraxacum officinale, Schisandra chinensis, Zingiber officinale, Citrus paradise (an already on use formula), respectively. A total of 300 patients were equally randomized in 2 groups. Patients in the intervention group had significantly lower levels of mercury after 30 days of treatment, as well as after 30 days since the treatment has stopped (6.1 ± 4.4 vs. 7.6 ± 4.0, p = 0.002 and 3.8 ± 3.0 vs. 5.5 ± 3.3, p = 0.000, respectively). This study provides evidence regarding some herbal extracts that may play a protective role against mercury toxicity, improving clinical scores when compared to standard treatment. More trials are needed to establish an integrative approach against mercury poisoning.