Toenail mercury levels are associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) risk

Andrew, Angeline S.; Chen, Celia Y.; Caller, Tracie A.; Tandan, Rup; Henegan, Patricia L.; Jackson, Brian P.; Hall, Brenda P.; Bradley, Walter G.; Stommel, Elijah W.

doi:10.1002/mus.26055

i

Toenail mercury levels are associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) risk

Supporting Files

January 04 2018
By Andrew, Angeline S. ; Chen, Celia Y. ; Caller, Tracie A. ; ...

File Language:

English

Details

Alternative Title:

Muscle Nerve
Personal Author:

Andrew, Angeline S. ; Chen, Celia Y. ; Caller, Tracie A. ; Tandan, Rup ; Henegan, Patricia L. ; Jackson, Brian P. ; Hall, Brenda P. ; Bradley, Walter G. ; Stommel, Elijah W.
Description:

Introduction

Mercury is a neurotoxic metal that is potentially a risk factor for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Consumption of methylmercury contaminated fish is the primary source of U.S. population exposure to mercury.

Methods

We used inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry to measure levels of mercury in toenail samples from ALS patients (n=46) and from controls (n=66), as a biomarker of mercury exposure.

Results

ALS patients had higher toenail mercury levels (OR 2.49 95%CI 1.18–5.80, P=0.024) compared to controls, adjusted for age and gender. We also estimated the amount of mercury consumed from finfish and shellfish and found toenail mercury levels elevated overall among ALS patients and controls in the top quartile for consumption (P=0.018).

Discussion

Biomarker data show ALS associated with increased with mercury levels, which were related to estimated methylmercury intake via fish. Replication of these associations in additional populations is warranted.
Subjects:

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Article Case-control Studies Fish Mercury Methylmercury Neuromuscular Disease Toenail Toxicology
Source:

Muscle Nerve.
Pubmed ID:

29314106
Pubmed Central ID:

PMC6034986
Document Type:

Journal Article
Funding:

P30 CA023108/CA/NCI NIH HHS/United States ; P42 ES007373/ES/NIEHS NIH HHS/United States ; R01 TS000245/TS/ATSDR CDC HHS/United States ; UL1 TR001086/TR/NCATS NIH HHS/United States
Collection(s):

CDC Public Access
Main Document Checksum:

urn:sha256:bbef3018e54fca4b9b0ce3cf0e5d6964abe3a731b690cc65d12758d68eeece42
Download URL:

https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/56758/cdc_56758_DS1.pdf
File Type:

[PDF - 522.25 KB ]

File Language:

English

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