Chelation Therapy

Chelation therapy is the medical treatment for reducing the toxic effect of metals. Chelating agents are organic compounds that are capable of linking to metal ions to form less toxic species that are easily excreted from the body. Chelators bind metals and remove them from intracellular or extracellular spaces. Hydrophilic chelators are known to enhance urinary metal excretion, but their effects are mainly limited to extracellular metal pools. While lipophilic chelators can decrease intracellular stores, they may redistribute metals to the brain. Prolonged use of chelation therapy is compromised by side effects. The metal selectivity of chelators is important, due to the risk of essential metal depletion. Dimercaptosuccinic acid and dimercaptopropionic sulfonate have presently gained increased acceptance among clinicians, undoubtedly improving the management of metal intoxication. However, development of new safer chelators suited for long-term oral administration for chelation of metal deposits is an important challenge for future research.