D-penicillamine as a neonatal neuroprotectant: clinical and neuro developmental studies

Our recently published case reports (Lakatos et al., 2015) – together with other healthy and highly educated patients of the long-term (28-40 years) follow-up – suggest that D-Penicillamine /DPA/-therapy of newborn infants may have significant neuroprotective effects in cases jeopardized by bilirubin-induced neurologic dysfunction (BIND) or retinopathy of prematurity (ROP).The first patient (42 ys)is now a member of a famous operahouse in Germany as an opera singer, the second one (16 ys) is excellent in music and matematics. These cases are all the more remarkable as the most common sequelae of neonatal hyperbilirubinemia /NHBI/ is the sensorineuralhearing impairment. These unexpected effects may be related to DPA capability to alter the most important gasotransmitters (nitric oxide /NO/ system, carbon monoxide /CO/, hydrogen sulfide /H2S/ biosynthesis, and copper /Cu+/ homeostasis in the brain, where Cu+ is an endogenous modulator of neural circuit spontaneous activity). According to our hypothesis DPA can modulate the function of these neurotransmitters and can protect the brain (especially the basal ganglia and retina) from injury, such as BIND and ROP.