Link Between Neurological and Immune Disorders

Contents

• Aluminum
• Mercury
• Other Mercury-related Resources
• Neurological and Immunological Development
• Neurological and Immunological Dysfunction
• Specific Vaccines

Aluminum

• Reconsideration of the immunotherapeutic pediatric safe dose levels of aluminum The dosing of aluminum in vaccines is based on the production of antibody titers, not safety science. Here we estimate a Pediatric Dose Limit that considers body weight. We identify several serious historical missteps in past analyses of provisional safe levels of aluminum in vaccines, and provide updates relevant to infant aluminum exposure in the pediatric schedule considering pediatric body weight. When aluminum doses are estimated from Federal Regulatory Code given body weight, exposure from the current vaccine schedule are found to exceed our estimate of a weight-corrected Pediatric Dose Limit.
• The measurement and full statistical analysis including Bayesian methods of the aluminium content of infant vaccines Aluminium adjuvants are critical to the efficacy of vaccines and are far from being benign components. Information on their content, activity and safety is severely lacking and this void requires urgent attention. Until such information is forthcoming, aluminium adjuvants remain prime suspects in widely documented vaccination-related adverse events.
• Non-linear dose-response of aluminium hydroxide adjuvant particles: Selective low dose neurotoxicity We conclude that Alhydrogel^® injected at low dose in mouse muscle may selectively induce long-term Al cerebral accumulation and neurotoxic effects.
• Slow CCL2-dependent translocation of biopersistent particles from muscle to brain Intramuscular injection of alum-containing vaccine was associated with the appearance of aluminum deposits in distant organs, such as spleen and brain where they were still detected one year after injection. … This occurs at a very low rate in normal conditions explaining good overall tolerance of alum despite its strong neurotoxic potential. However, continuously escalating doses of this poorly degradable adjuvant in the population may become insidiously unsafe, especially in the case of overimmunization or immature/altered blood brain barrier or high constitutive CCL-2 production.
• Aluminum vaccine adjuvants: are they safe? We hope that the present paper will provide a framework for a much needed and long overdue assessment of this highly contentious medical issue.
• Mechanisms of aluminum adjuvant toxicity and autoimmunity in pediatric populations
• Aluminum hydroxide injections lead to motor deficits and motor neuron degeneration
• Long-term persistence of vaccine-derived aluminum hydroxide is associated with chronic cognitive dysfunction
• Long-term follow-up of cognitive dysfunction in patients with aluminum hydroxide-induced macrophagic myofasciitis (MMF) Long-term follow-up of a subset of patients with 3 or 4 consecutive neuropsychological evluations confirmed the stability of MACD [Macrophagic myofasciitis-associated cognitive dysfunction] with time, despite fluctuations.
• Aluminum adjuvant linked to Gulf War Illness induces motor neuron death in mice
• The immunobiology of aluminium adjuvants: how do they really work?
• Aluminum inclusion macrophagic myofasciitis: a recently identified condition The authors conclude that the persistence of aluminum hydroxide at the site of intramuscular injection is a novel finding which has an exact significance that remains to be established fully. It seems mandatory to evaluate possible long-term adverse effects induced by this compound, because this issue has not been addressed (in the past, aluminum hydroxide was believed to be cleared quickly from the body).
• Macrophagic myofasciitis lesions assess long-term persistence of vaccine-derived aluminium hydroxide in muscle We conclude that (i) intracytoplasmic inclusions are constantly detected in MMF [Macrophagic myofasciitis] lesions and correspond to aluminum hydroxide crystals; (ii) MMF lesions are secondary to intramuscular injections of aluminum hydroxide-containing vaccines and should be regarded as post-vaccinal immunogenic granuloma; and (iii) MMF lesions are usually detected in the deltoid muscles of patients with diffuse myalgias appearing subsequently to aluminum hydroxide-containing vaccine administration.
• A role for the body burden of aluminium in vaccine-associated macrophagic myofasciitis and chronic fatigue syndrome This case has highlighted potential dangers associated with aluminium-containing adjuvants and we have elucidated a possible mechanism whereby vaccination involving aluminium-containing adjuvants could trigger the cascade of immunological events which are associated with autoimmune conditions including chronic fatigue syndrome and macrophagic myofasciitis.
• Aluminum as an adjuvant in Crohn’s disease induction
• Aluminum is a potential environmental factor for Crohn’s disease induction: extended hypothesis
• Aluminum studies compiled by CMSRI Children’s Medical Safety Research Institute

Mercury

• Mercury induces inflammatory mediator release from human mast cells The results of the present study support the biological plausibility of how mercury could contribute to ASD pathogenesis by inducing VEGF and IL-6 release from mast cells, and as a result disrupt the BBB and thus permit brain inflammation. Further studies should investigate the effect of mercury and thimerosal together with allergic and non-immune triggers.
• Comparison of blood and brain mercury levels in infant monkeys exposed to methylmercury or vaccines containing thimerosal The key findings of the present study are the differences in the disposition kinetics and demethylation rates of thimerosal and MeHg. Consequently, MeHg is not a suitable reference for risk assessment from exposure to thimerosal-derived Hg. Knowledge of the biotransformation of thimerosal, the chemical identity of the Hg-containing species in the blood and brain, and the neurotoxic potential of intact thimerosal and its various biotransformation products, including ethylmercury, is urgently needed to afford a meaningful interpretation of the potential developmental effects of immunization with thimerosal-containing vaccines in newborns and infants.
• Neurodevelopmental disorders following thimerosal-containing childhood immunizations: a follow-up analysis
• Persistent behavioral impairments and alterations of brain dopamine system after early postnatal administration of thimerosal in rats
• Maternal thimerosal exposure results in aberrant cerebellar oxidative stress, thyroid hormone metabolism, and motor behavior in rat pups; sex- and strain-dependent effects
• Neonatal administration of thimerosal causes persistent changes in mu opioid receptors in the rat brain
• Integrating experimental (in vitro and in vivo) neurotoxicity studies of low-dose thimerosal relevant to vaccines Information extracted from studies indicates that: (a) activity of low doses of Thimerosal against isolated human and animal brain cells was found in all studies and is consistent with Hg neurotoxicity; (b) the neurotoxic effect of ethylmercury has not been studied with co-occurring adjuvant-Al in TCVs; (c) animal studies have shown that exposure to Thimerosal-Hg can lead to accumulation of inorganic Hg in brain, and that (d) doses relevant to TCV exposure possess the potential to affect human neuro-development.
• Potential Immunotoxic Effect of Thimerosal: Compound alters Dendritic Cell Response in Vitro
• Thimerosal-derived ethylmercury is a mitochondrial toxin in human astrocytes: possible role of Fenton chemistry in the oxidation and breakage of mtDNA
• Administration of thimerosal to infant rats increases overflow of glutamate and aspartate in the prefrontal cortex: protective role of dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate

Other Mercury-related Resources

• Summary of Science Demonstrating the harmful Nature of Mercury in Vaccines by Coalition of SafeMinds
• Summary of Supportive Science Regarding Thimerosal Removal: Updated December 2012 by Coalition of SafeMinds
• Evidence for Thimerosal Risk (covers 90 studies) by Vaccination News
• Thimerosal Studies linking to various disorders (pdf) – GreenMedInfo

(Also see Autoimmune Disease and Death..)

Neurological and Immunological Development

• Novel Roles for Immune Molecules in Neural Development: Implications for Neurodevelopmental Disorders
• The Emerging Link Between Autoimmune Disorders and Neuropsychiatric Disease Although a link between behavior and immune function has been hypothesized for many decades, recent work provides some of the most compelling evidence thus far. In particular, autoimmune synaptic encephalitides demonstrate how abnormal autoimmune targeting of synaptic proteins can result in profound neuropsychiatric symptoms. Each syndrome is diagnosable by a set of laboratory tests and responds well to immunotherapy. These features provide a degree of clinical certainty rarely available to psychiatrists. Also, the high incidence of systemic autoimmune disorders with neuropsychiatric features reinforces the likely cross-reactivity of peripheral autoantibodies with brain antigens…Finally, and perhaps most significantly, new research will aim to determine whether a subset of what we currently diagnose as primary psychiatric disorders are in fact due to definable, treatable autoimmune syndromes.
• Influence of pediatric vaccines on amygdala growth and opioid ligand binding in rhesus macaque infants: A pilot study Because primate testing is an important aspect of pre-clinical vaccine safety assessment prior to approval for human use, the results of this pilot study warrant additional research into the potential impact of an interaction between the MMR and thimerosal-containing vaccines on brain structure and function.
• Primary Immunization of Premature Infants with Gestational Age <35 Weeks: Cardiorespiratory Complications and C-Reactive Protein Responses Associated with Administration of Single and Multiple Separate Vaccines Simultaneously
• Molecular mechanisms underlying anti-inflammatory phenotype of neonatal splenic macrophages Neonatal humans and rodents are susceptible to infection with encapsulated bacteria as a result of an inability to make antibodies to capsular polysaccharides….In this study, we show that when stimulated with a variety of agonists to TLR2, -4, and -9, neonatal [splenic macrophages] make less proinflammatory cytokines and more IL-10 than adult [splenic macrophages].
• Abnormal measles-mumps-rubella antibodies and CNS autoimmunity in children with autism ELISA analysis showed a significant increase in the level of MMR antibodies in autistic children.
• Integrating experimental (in vitro and in vivo) neurotoxicity studies of low-dose thimerosal relevant to vaccines Thimerosal at concentrations relevant for infants’ exposure (in vaccines) is toxic to cultured human-brain cells and to laboratory animals.
• Thimerosal induces DNA breaks, caspase-3 activation, membrane damage, and cell death in cultured human neurons and fibroblasts
• Serological association of measles virus and human herpesvirus-6 with brain autoantibodies in autism
• Immune Activation in Brain Aging and Neurodegeneration: Too Much or Too Little? A central question that emerges is whether immune and inflammatory pathways become hyperactivated with age and promote degeneration or whether insufficient immune responses, which fail to cope with age-related stress, may contribute to disease.

(Also see the Mercury section above and the Neurological and Immune Dysfunction section below.)

Neurological and Immune Dysfunction

• Rhabdomyolysis secondary to influenza A H1N1 vaccine resulting in acute kidney injury
• Rhabdomyolysis with acute renal failure triggered by the seasonal flu vaccination in a patient taking simvastatin
• Influenza vaccine-induced rhabdomyolysis leading to acute renal transplant dysfunction
• Causality of rhabdomyolysis and combined tetanus, diphtheria and acellular pertussis (Tdap) vaccine administration An objective drug causality assessment using the Naranjo scale indicates that rhabdomylosis was “probable” (Score 5) causation by the Tdap vaccine.
• Prevalence of Autism is Positively Associated with the Incidence of Type 1 Diabetes, but Negatively associated with the Incidence of Type 2 Diabetes, Implication for the Etiology of the Autism Epidemic This suggests that patients with autoimmune autism likely represent a large subset of patients with autism and that the etiology of the epidemic of autoimmune/inflammation mediated autism in children is likely to be related to the etiology of the simultaneous epidemic of type 1 diabetes in children.
• The Immune System is Needed for Shaping, Protecting and Healing the Brain: Implications to depression, brain senescence and neurodegeneration (a 2010 lecture by Professor Michal Schwartz, Department of Neurobiology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel)

Specific Vaccines

• Neurological Complications of Pertussis Immunization
• DPT Vaccine and Chronic Nervous System Dysfunction: A New Analysis
• Abnormal measles-mumps-rubella antibodies and CNS autoimmunity in children with autism
• Pertussis toxin is required for pertussis vaccine encephalopathy
• Hepatitis B triple series vaccine and developmental disability in US children aged 1-9 years
• CNS demyelination and quadrivalent HPV vaccination
• Increased Incidence and Clinical Picture of Childhood Narcolepsy following the 2009 H1N1 Pandemic Vaccination Campaign in Finland
• Safety and immunogenicity of H5N1 vaccine …it seems clear that aluminum hydroxide does not fulfill the need for adjuvants to be “biodegradable and easily removed from the body” and that the possible long-term adverse effects induced by this compound should be assessed.
• Child influenza vaccination: Ramifications of adverse events in children in Australia Data released on 1 June 2010 show that 1 in every 110 young children vaccinated with the CSL vaccine had a febrile seizure.
• Progression of Renal Disease in Henoch-Schönlein Purpura After Influenza Vaccination Since there are no major complications of recent influenza vaccination on record, we want to report our experience with a patient with Henoch-Schönlein purpura, whose mild renal disease progressed irreversibly after influenza vaccination.
• Henoch–Schönlein purpura following meningitis C vaccination The administration of meningitis C vaccination 1 week before the onset of HSP suggests that it can be added to the list of potential triggering agents.
• Fatal outcome after postexposure rabies vaccination in a patient with Parkinson’s disease