Mercury and nickel allergy: risk factors in fatigue and autoimmunity
by Ivan Sterzl, Jarmila Proch·zkov·, PavlÌna Hrd·, Jirina
B·rtov·,
Petr Matucha & Vera DM Stejskal [http://www.melisa.org]
Abstract
This study examined the presence of hypersensitivity to
dental and environmental metals in patients with clinical disorders complicated with
chronic fatigue syndrome. Three groups of patients were examined through medical history,
dental examination, and by using a modified test of blast transformation for
metals—MELISAÆ. The three
groups consisted of the following: 22 patients with autoimmune thyroiditis with or without
polyglandular autoimmune activation; 28 fatigued patients free from endocrinopathy; and 22
fatigued professionals without evidence of autoimmunity. As controls, a population sample
or 13 healthy subjects without any evidence of metal sensitivity was included. Healthy
controls did not complain of marked fatigue and their laboratory tests did not show signs
of autoimmunity and endocrinopathy. We have found that fatigue, regardless of the
underlying disease, is primarily associated with hypersensitivity to inorganic mercury and
nickel. The lymphocyte stimulation by other metals was similar in fatigued and control
groups.
To evaluate clinical relevance of positive in vitro
findings, the replacement of amalgam with metal-free restorations was performed in some of
the patients. At a six-month follow-up, patients reported considerably alleviated fatigue
and disappearance of many symptoms previously encountered; in parallel, lymphocyte
responses to metals decreased as well. We suggest that metal-driven inflammation may
affect the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA axis) and indirectly trigger
psychosomatic multisymptoms characterizing chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, and
other diseases of unknown etiology.
