Although this study identified a different bacteria, not borrelia, nevertheless it is possible that a number of bacteria can cause a syndrome identical to MS ie Borrelia, Chlamydia pneumoniae (now called chlamydophila) and C. perfringens toxin.
The important message, to my mind, is that these researchers have identified that the pathophysiology indicates that what triggers MS is an infection, not an auto-immune process.
Researchers have identified a bacterial toxin that they believe may be a trigger for multiple sclerosis (MS).
Their study, published in the October issue of PLoS ONE, is the first to identify the culprit bacterium, Clostridium perfringens type B, in humans, and to single out the toxin it produces — known as epsilon toxin — as a probable MS trigger.
The researchers, from the Weill Cornell Medical College and The Rockefeller University in New York, New York, describes discovery of C perfringens type B in a 21-year-old woman who was experiencing a flare-up of her MS.
"That we identified this bacterium in a human is important enough, but the fact that it is present in MS patients is truly significant because the toxin targets the exact tissues damaged during the acute MS disease process," said lead author, Kareem Rashid Rumah, an MD/PhD student at Weill Cornell Medical College.
For the study, the researchers screened serum and spinal fluid from 30 patients with MS and 31 healthy controls. They found that 10% of the patients with MS had antibodies to an epsilon toxin compared with just 1% of controls.
Senior investigator, Timothy Vartanian, MD, Weill Cornell Medical College, commented to Medscape Medical News: "We know from the veterinary literature that if animals are vaccinated against C perfringens type B, their immunity drops off very quickly. So the 10% figure is probably lower than the real incidence. We believe the exposure is much higher than the seroreactivity is telling us."
The team also examined stool samples from both patients with MS and healthy controls enrolled in the HITMS (Harboring the Initial Trigger of Multiple Sclerosis) clinical study and found that 52% of healthy controls carried the A subtype compared with 23% of patients with MS.
"This is important because it is believed that the type A bacterium competes with the other subtypes for resources, so that makes it potentially protective against being colonized by epsilon toxin–secreting subtypes and developing MS," Dr. Vartanian noted.
Evidence Supporting a Trigger
He says substantial evidence supports the idea of an environmental trigger necessary for MS to begin. "There are many datasets that point to this." He gives the example of the situation in the Faroe Islands.
"The population of the Faroes has the same ancestry as that of the Scandinavian countries, where there has been a high incidence of MS. But there was no case of MS documented in the Faroes until 1943, when British troops occupied the country. This coincided with the first of 4 documented MS epidemics within native Faroe people."
The other piece of information that points to a trigger, Dr. Vartanian explained, is the pathology of the very first lesions at the earliest stages of the disease, which shows disruption of the normal integrity of the blood-brain barrier, oligodendrocyte apoptosis with preservation of myelin, and early microglial activation, but no T cells or B cells. "This suggests that the initial lesions are not formed by an autoimmune response but rather by a toxin or virus targeting oligodendrocytes."
"While it is clear that new MS disease activity requires an environmental trigger, the identity of this trigger has eluded the MS scientific community for decades," Dr. Vartanian says.
He noted that it has previously been suggested that MS may be related in some way to sheep and that organisms commonly found in sheep may be a trigger. C perfringens type B is one such organism, and he is proposing that the toxin it produces could be the trigger.
"C perfringens B is found in soil and is not normally present in humans. It can live the gastrointestinal tract of grass-eating animals, where it can grow fast and make a toxin that causes neurological symptoms. In humans, who have a linear GI [gastrointestinal] tract, it does not grow well. Our hypothesis is that in some environmental conditions, this bacterium takes up residence in the human gut and makes this toxin."
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The scientists say their study is small and must be expanded before a definitive connection between the pathogen and MS can be made, but they also say their findings are so intriguing that they have already begun to work on new treatments for the disease.
The researchers' next step is to set up collaborations in an attempt to confirm these results in larger populations of patients so that the findings to be independently verified.
Dr. Vartanian suggested that if these findings can be confirmed, it may be possible to vaccinate against the epsilon toxin or to prevent the toxin from getting to the brain. "Another strategy would be to change the gastrointestinal environment with a probiotic cocktail to stop the bacteria from growing. Or alternatively to develop small-molecule drugs to prevent the toxin from interacting with its receptor. Antibiotics may not work as the organism can form spores and avoid their effects," he added.
This work was supported in part by the Laurence Tisch Family Research Fund, the Dr. Mortimer D. Sackler Family Fund for Neuroregenerative Research, the Widgeon Point Charitable Foundation, and the Rockefeller University Funds to the Laboratory of Bacterial Pathogenesis and Immunology.
Posted by Eight Legs Bad (Member # 13680) on :
I would just like to add an observation here. the Medscape article mentions a link between MS and sheep.
The main tick associated with Lyme disease in Europe is Ixodes ricinus.
Ixodes ricinus is called the "sheep tick" here in Britain.
Elena
Posted by Rivendell (Member # 19922) on :
Perhaps most of the autoimmune disease are due to some sort of infection, plus maybe some genetics.
Maybe Hula Clark was right.
Posted by Abxnomore (Member # 18936) on :
Great find. Thanks for posting this.
Posted by Razzle (Member # 30398) on :
It is believed that Celiac Disease genes can be "turned on" or activated by food poisoning...
And many with Crohn's Disease have been shown in studies to improve with an antibiotic program that treats Mycobacterium Paratuburculosis...
And I've read articles that suggest Lyme or other chronic stealth infections may be the culprit in many other conditions as well...including hardening of the arteries, osteoarthritis, etc.
So bacteria (or other micro-organisms) as a trigger or cause of most all "autoimmune" disease is certainly plausible...
Posted by Carmen (Member # 42391) on :
This is what I came to about 7 years ago. I was suspicious of this even before but with the advent of MMS and all the things it was helping people with that were tagged as autoimmune and treated with corresponding drugs... it became crystal clear that medical science has been missing the mark for a long long time.
But then, what else is new?
Posted by Carmen (Member # 42391) on :
I would add that there have been a number of studies that show that MS is bacterial or pathogen caused.
also, in my estimation, it is the pathogens that cause the autoimmune disfunction, not an autoimmune dysfunction allowing for the pathogen.. but after a time I imagine it becomes a vicious circle... and if you have say, lyme, the immune system becomes so stressed and dysfunctional that you become susceptible to many other things.
Posted by D Bergy (Member # 9984) on :
Good info. I know some people in the Rife community that will put this to the test immediately.
Thanks for bringing it to our attention.
Dan
Posted by Keebler (Member # 12673) on :
- That's just what I thought, "hmmm. wonder what rife frequency that might be?" But I was just too tired to look. Another "later" task.
-----
Razzle,
in light of your inclusion of food poisoning triggering celiac (as can many infections), it may be of surprise to some that some infections from food poisoning are said to bring out arthritis, too. Some can be chronic and stealthy, too.
SPRUE, an infection is one to look at, perhaps, too. I think it's not just confined to the tropics. Used to be that celiac was thought only of as "celiac sprue"
My guess is that no infection really travels alone, though. Still, any clues we can get along the way may just be the ticket!.
Topic: FOOD POISONING ? Links - note that some can become chronic and cause much damage -
Posted by Told you I was sick (Member # 35068) on :
Eight Legs-
Thank you for posting this. Certainly interesting, to say the very least.
I wanted to also add something to your comment about the sheep ticks in Europe. It was also the I. Ricinus ticks that first garnered significant attention in terms of being able to serve as a vector in the case of human Bartonellosis.
And, isn't it Bartonella, especially, among the tbd's, that is often implicated when severe neurological issues manifest? What more convenient than a bacterial infection like Bartonella (or a Bartonella-like organism; BLO) to morph into a 'neurological' condition like MS???
Very suspect, indeed.
Anyways, right on with sending along the article. Thanks so much!
Told you...
Posted by Cockapoo1996 (Member # 14238) on :
Thanks for posting this. I was first diagnosed with MS. Interesting that they are not looking to antibiotics for a cure - "Antibiotics may not work as the organism can form spores and avoid their effects".
Posted by Carmen (Member # 42391) on :
here's an older study showing links between ms and lyme
If you have read Buhner's books you will notice that he holds the same assertions about the connection/correlation between bacterial infections and "autoimmune" disease.
Posted by Carmen (Member # 42391) on :
I havent read his book yet. I figured it out by watching over years exactly what works for a specific disease and what doesn't. Clear and simple observation. In the old days it was called empiracle science... still is called that I guess, but it is often disregarded by the shapshifters, shadowcasters and illusionists, largely found in funded research projects and pharmaceutical companies with their manipulated double blind, placebo controlled studies that often are slanted by downright lies, in the favor of profits