A Comparative Study of the Calcium Carbonate Nanoparticles and the Chelators on Blood Lead Level Reduction and the Side Effects

Epidemiological studies indicate that large population worldwide has suffered from lead poisoning due to unconscious and unprotecting exposure to hazardous lead element. At present, the clinical treatments are using chelator drugs that conjugate Pb ions, form the water-soluble complex which are excreted in urine. Many side effects such as liver and kidney problems and decreased blood trace essential elements have been recognized. We introduce a product, the soft and agglomerated calcium carbonate nanoparticles (CCN) with mean size of 40 nm as a new approach to treat lead poisoning. The drug effect on reduction of blood lead levels (BLL) and the side effects of CCN and two clinical antidotes, calcium disodium edetate (CDE) and dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) are compared. Results demonstrated CCN treatment significantly decreased the BLL that demonstrated the best drug efficacy as compared with DMSA and CDE, even though the BLLs under both chelator treatments were significantly lower than the non-treatment (NT) group. Both DMSA and CDE decreased serum proteins due to non-specific chelation. CDE decreased blood Mg2+ and Cu2+ and increased serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) levels. None above side effects had been demonstrated in CCN treatment. Thus, CCN can be a new development for lead poisoning therapy.