Dr Vera Stejskal PhD
Associate Professor of Immunology, University of Stockholm, Sweden

Prof. Vera Stejskal received her doctoral degree from Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic. For 18 years she worked as a Senior Research Adviser and Head of Immunotoxicology at Astra, Sweden, now AstraZeneca. She is Associated Professor of Immunology at the University of Stockholm. Prof. Stejskal has been and adviser to the World Health Organization, and served as an expert witness to a US Congressional Committee on the issue of vaccine safety and thimerosal allergy. Inventor of the MELISA® test, Prof. Stejskal is the author of more than 100 scientific publications in the field of allergy and immunotoxicology. She is board member of European Academy of Environmental Medicine and scientific member of I-GAP and Czech Society for Anti-Aging Medicine (A2M).

2015 - Metal allergy - the missing link in autoimmune connective tissue disorders?

Various factors such as vaccines, cosmetics, silicon and cigarettes have been suggested to play a role in the etiology of autoimmune connective tissue disorders (CTDs). Animal studies show that heavy metals such as mercury and gold induce autoimmunity in genetically susceptible animals. Nickel has been shown to induce Scleroderma (SLE) in rats. Molybdenum has been shown to trigger SLE in humans and health improvement has been reported in patients with various autoimmune CTDs following removal of mercury-containing dental amalgam in mercury-allergic subjects. We studied metal allergy in 41 patients, suffering from one or several autoimmune CTDs (SLE, rheumatoid arthritis and Sjögrens). The majority of patients exhibited clinical metal allergy (contact dermatitis from cheap jewellery) and had many dental restorations. All patients had amalgam fillings and dental gold in crowns and bridges. Some also had titanium implants. The MELISA® test, an in vitro test for the detection of T-cells sensitized to metals, was used to determine metal sensitivity. The results showed that metal allergy was common in patients with autoimmune CTDs, the most frequent allergens being nickel, mercury, gold and palladium. Through cytokines, metal-induced inflammation causes unspecific symptoms (CFS, fibromyalgia) present in all autoimmune diseases. The replacement of dental metals in sensitized patients could make conventional therapy more efficient and thus contribute to health improvement of patients with autoimmune CTDs. In one case, rheumatoid arthritis was triggered by the implantation of chest wires containing nickel, molybdenum and chromium in a metal sensitised patient. The patient became symptom free after removal of the wires.