Ann Neurol: Relationship between blood metal levels and the risk of amyotrophy lateral sclerosis.

Metals are considered a risk factor for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), but so far no retrospective studies have been conducted.
recently, researchers compared metal levels in blood samples collected from ALS patients and controls to see if metals were associated with ALS mortality, according to a recent study published in Annals of Neurology, an authoritative journal in the field of neurology.
researchers conducted a nested ALS case control study of the prospective EPIC queue and confirmed the case with a death certificate.
researchers analyzed metal levels in blood samples obtained at the time of collection as biomarkers of metal exposure from any source.
arsenic, cadmium, copper, lead, manganese, mercury, selenium and zinc were measured by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometrography.
to assess ALS risk, the researchers analyzed the conditional Logistic regression model.
the study included 107 cases (65 percent of women) and 319 age, gender and research center-matching controls.
the time from blood harvesting to ALS death was 8 years (range 1-15).
the highest and lowest triumthiles, cadmium (ratio (OR) of 2.04, 95% confidence interval (CI) of 1.08-3.87) and lead (OR of 1.89, 95% CI of 0.97-3.67) concentrations were associated with increased ALS risk.
zinc is associated with reduced ALS risk (OR 0.50, 95% CI 0.27-0.94).
the analysis was limited to non-current smokers, the link between cadmium and lead remained.
study is the first to compare metal levels before the onset of the disease to minimize reverse causation.
by researchers suggest that cadmium, lead and zinc may play a role in alS causes.
and lead may be mediating factors from smoking to ALS.
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