Researchers find amyotrophic lateral sclerosis biomarkers in teeth

Biological markers found in teeth during childhood were associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, in adulthood, according to research published in Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology.

“This is the first study to show a clear signature at birth and within the first decade of life, well before any clinical signs or symptoms of the disease,” Manish Arora, BDS, MPH, PhD, professor and vice chair of environmental medicine and public health at the Icahn School of Medicine, said in a press release.

Arora and colleagues used laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry to examine teeth and map exposure to metals in growth rings that formed in the teeth during the first 10 years of life. They compared metal levels in teeth obtained in autopsies or routine dental extractions from 36 patients with ALS and 31 controls.

The researchers found that metal levels were higher in patients with ALS compared with controls. At the point of greatest difference in metal levels, patients with ALS had 1.49 times (95% CI, 1.11–1.82; at 15 years) the chromium, 1.82 times (95% CI, 1.34–2.46; at birth) the magnesium, 1.65 times (95% CI, 1.22–2.01; at 8 years) the nickel, 2.46 times (95% CI, 1.65–3.30; at 2 years) the tin and 2.46 times (95% CI, 1.49–3.67; at 6 years) the zinc of controls.

 

Biological markers found in teeth during childhood were associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, in adulthood, according to research published in Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology.

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Arora and colleagues also determined that co-exposure to 11 elements during development — barium, chromium, copper, lithium, magnesium, manganese, nickel, lead, tin, strontium, and zinc — showed that metal dysregulation during childhood was associated with ALS.

“Our previous work showed that the dysregulation of elemental metabolism in early life was associated with the onset of neurological disease such as autism and ADHD,” Christine Austin, PhD, assistant professor of environmental medicine and public health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, said in the press release. “This study shows that metabolic dysregulation is also associated with neurological conditions with a much greater lag to symptom onset.” – by Erin Michael

Disclosures: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.