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EDTA Chelation Therapy to Reduce Cardiovascular Events in Persons with Diabetes

  • Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease (S Malik, Section Editor)
  • Published:
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Abstract

The Trial to Assess Chelation Therapy (TACT) was a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial enrolling patients age ≥50 years with prior myocardial infarction. TACT used a 2 × 2 factorial design to study ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) chelation and high-dose vitamin supplementation. Chelation provided a modest but significant reduction in cardiovascular endpoints. The benefit was stronger and significant among participants with diabetes but absent in those without diabetes. Mechanisms by which chelation might reduce cardiovascular risk in persons with diabetes include the effects of EDTA chelation on transition and toxic metals. Transition metals, particularly copper and iron, play important roles in oxidative stress pathways. Toxic metals, in particular cadmium and lead, are toxic for the cardiovascular system. This review discusses the epidemiologic evidence and animal and human studies supporting the role of these metals in the development of diabetes and ischemic heart disease and potential ways by which EDTA chelation could confer cardiovascular benefit.

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Acknowledgments

We appreciate the support provided by Carrie Price, MLS, Clinical Informationist, in developing the literature search.

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Conflict of Interest

Pamela Ouyang has received grant support from NIH and was a site investigator for the TACT trial.

Sheldon H. Gottlieb, Valerie L. Culotta, and Ana Navas-Acien declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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Correspondence to Pamela Ouyang.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease

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Ouyang, P., Gottlieb, S.H., Culotta, V.L. et al. EDTA Chelation Therapy to Reduce Cardiovascular Events in Persons with Diabetes. Curr Cardiol Rep 17, 96 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11886-015-0656-y

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