Recent reports estimate the number of children with lead intoxication at 230,000, the number of industrial workers with lead poisoning at 530,000. These number create a medical problem of alarming magnitude, because treatment with available chelators has serious side-effects. Even the chelator-lead complexes that for in the blood during treatment are damaging the kidneys during elimination. We have developed a polysulfone hollow-fiber device with immobilized chelators, for the extracorporeal removal of lead from blood and subsequently from storage sites. Since the chelator is immobilized the chelation process occurs outside of the circulation, and toxicity of lead and lead-chelator complex is eliminated. The goal in the Phase I studies is to explore the feasibility of developing a lead-chelator device of clinical significance. The following studies will be conducted: Chelator functions will be synthesized on various supports and lead binding capacity tested Colloidal suspensions will be prepared from these chelators and tested for capacity and lead specificity. By step- wise selection, the most promising agents will be loaded into hollow fiber cartridges and evaluated for capacity, specificity, and kinetics of lead removal. Results will help select the optimal chelator to develop for a prototype for clinical use with Phase II support.
| Ambrus, C M; Anthone, S; Stadler, A et al. (2001) Treatment of lead poisoning with an immobilized chelator comparison with conventional therapy. Res Commun Mol Pathol Pharmacol 110:253-63 |
