Trial reportBMC clinical pharmacology2009
Safety and efficacy of oral DMSA therapy for children with autism spectrum disorders: Part A--medical results.
Trial report in BMC clinical pharmacology, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 77 citations in OpenAlex.
- Environmental toxicants and autism spectrum disorders: a systematic review.Translational psychiatry · 2014Pooled it
- A cleanroom sleeping environment's impact on markers of oxidative stress, immune dysregulation, and behavior in children with autism spectrum disorders.BMC complementary and alternative medicine · 2015Trial
- Safety and efficacy of oral DMSA therapy for children with autism spectrum disorders: part B - behavioral results.BMC clinical pharmacology · 2009Trial
- Environmental Risk Factors, Toxic Metals, and Essential Elements in Urine Samples of Algerian Children with Severe Autism Spectrum Disorder and Neurotypical Children.Biological trace element research · 2026Article
- Dietary and complementary oral supplements for the management of chronic diseases in children: a systematic review.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2025Review
- Synthetic Amphoteric Cryogels as an Antidote against Acute Heavy Metal Poisoning.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- The Foundation in Evidence of Medical and Dental Telephone Consultations.Deutsches Arzteblatt international · 2016Article
- Chelation for autism spectrum disorder (ASD).The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2015Article
- Complementary and Alternative Therapies for Autism Spectrum Disorder.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2015Review
- Toxicant exposure and bioaccumulation: a common and potentially reversible cause of cognitive dysfunction and dementia.Behavioural neurology · 2015Article
- Proposed toxic and hypoxic impairment of a brainstem locus in autism.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2013Article
- The concentration of glutathione in human erythrocytes is a heritable trait.Free radical biology & medicine · 2013Article
- Thimerosal exposure and the role of sulfation chemistry and thiol availability in autism.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2013Review
- Efficacy of DMSA Therapy in a Sample of Arab Children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder.Maedica · 2012Article
- The potential role of the antioxidant and detoxification properties of glutathione in autism spectrum disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Nutrition & metabolism · 2012Article
- A review of research trends in physiological abnormalities in autism spectrum disorders: immune dysregulation, inflammation, oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction and environmental toxicant exposures.Molecular psychiatry · 2012Review
- A review of complementary and alternative treatments for autism spectrum disorders.Autism research and treatment · 2012Article
- Heavy metals and trace elements in hair and urine of a sample of arab children with autistic spectrum disorder.Maedica · 2011Article
- The severity of autism is associated with toxic metal body burden and red blood cell glutathione levels.Journal of toxicology · 2009Article
- Dimercaptosuccinic acid: A multifunctional cost effective agent for imaging and therapy.Indian journal of nuclear medicine : IJNM : the official journal of the Society of Nuclear Medicine, IndiaReview
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
13 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThis study investigated the effect of oral dimercapto succinic acid (DMSA) therapy for children with autism spectrum disorders ages 3-8 years.
methodsPhase 1 involved 65 children who received one round of DMSA (3 days). Participants who had high urinary excretion of toxic metals were selected to continue on to phase 2. In phase 2, 49 participants were randomly assigned in a double-blind design to receive an additional 6 rounds of either DMSA or placebo.
resultsDMSA greatly increased the excretion of lead, substantially increased excretion of tin and bismuth, and somewhat increased the excretion of thallium, mercury, antimony, and tungsten. There was some increase in urinary excretion of essential minerals, especially potassium and chromium. The Phase 1 single round of DMSA led to a dramatic normalization of RBC glutathione in almost all cases, and greatly improved abnormal platelet counts, suggesting a significant decrease in inflammation.
conclusionOverall, DMSA therapy seems to be reasonably safe, effective in removing several toxic metals (especially lead), dramatically effective in normalizing RBC glutathione, and effective in normalizing platelet counts. Only 1 round (3 days) was sufficient to improve glutathione and platelets. Additional rounds increased excretion of toxic metals.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.