Category Archives: Autoimmune - Page 2

Autoimmune Panel: Wahls, Ballantyne, Jaminet, & Gray

Posted by on September 3, 2013 28 comments

This is probably the most important and interesting podcast I’ve had the privilege of being part of: an expert panel on Recovering from Autoimmune and Neurodegenerative Diseases.

The panel was arranged by Whitney Ross Gray of Nutrisclerosis, who has recovered from Multiple Sclerosis with an ancestral diet rich in animal foods.

The expert panelists were:

  • Terry Wahls, M.D., who has famously recovered from Multiple Sclerosis on an ancestral diet rich in plant foods, and is now leading a clinical trial studying ancestral diets as treatments for M.S.
  • Sarah Ballantyne, Ph.D., who blogs at The Paleo Mom. Sarah suffered from an autoimmune disease, lichen planus, as well as other ailments, and healed them (and lost 120 pounds) with an ancestral diet.
  • Paul Jaminet, Ph.D. I had a chronic disease with neurological symptoms that overlapped with M.S., but it turned out to be an infectious disease and cleared with antibiotics. However, this could not be diagnosed until after I’d made considerable progress addressing it through an ancestral diet, which became the Perfect Health Diet.

Questions were solicited beforehand from patients suffering from autoimmune and neurodegenerative diseases, and in an hour and forty minutes we covered many fascinating topics.

I think the combination of personal experience recovering from chronic diseases, and scientific and medical expertise, made for an exceptionally useful conversation. If you are interested in these diseases – or just in how to be healthy, since the methods that address these conditions are generally beneficial for anyone’s health – take a listen.

My thanks to Whitney for organizing the discussion, Carl for hosting it, and Terry and Sarah for making a great panel.

Why Wheat Is A Concealed Cause of Many Diseases, II: Auto-Antibody Generation

Posted by on October 28, 2010 22 comments

This week we’re examining why wheat is the most dangerous food, and focusing on its role in causing autoimmune diseases. In Tuesday’s post, we talked about how wheat induces a leaky gut; today, we’ll look at how wheat generates auto-antibodies that attack self tissue.

Known Wheat-Derived Auto-Antibodies

In the book we talk about the role of gluten in creating auto-antibodies that attack tissue transglutaminase (tTg), a human enzyme that is abundant in the thyroid and gut. This leads to Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and celiac disease.

However, wheat can generate auto-antibodies to other human molecules besides tTg. These include:

  • Collagens I, III, V, and VI. tTG catalyzes the cross linking of gliadin peptides with interstitial collagen types I, III, and VI, leading to formation of antibodies against collagen. Celiac disease patients have been found to have circulating auto-antibodies to collagens I, III, V, and VI. [1]
  • Synapsin I. Synapsins are a family of proteins regulating neurotransmitter release at synapses. By forming antibodies against wheat gliadin in animals, and then immunoprecipitating human proteins with these antibodies, investigators found that antibodies to wheat gliadin bind strongly to synapsin I. Anti-wheat antibodies from celiac disease patients bind to human synapsin I. [2]

Other known targets of wheat-generated auto-antibodies include gangliosides, actin, calreticulin and desmin. [3,4]

More Wheat-Derived Auto-Antibodies Still to be Found

Scientists may have only begun to identify the human proteins that wheat can generate antibodies against.

For instance, auto-antibodies taken from the blood of celiac disease patients bind to an unidentified 55 kiloDalton protein expressed on the nuclear membrane of intestinal cells, endothelial cells and fibroblasts. [5] That nuclear protein remains unidentified today.

Effects of Wheat-Derived Auto-Antibodies

These various wheat-derived auto-antibodies can trigger attacks against a wide range of tissues. Blood vessels are a frequent target. In our book we note that heart transplants are generally precipitated by wheat-derived autoimmune attacks on the heart. [6]

Nerves are another. Wheat-derived antibodies against neuronal tissue, probably targeting synapsin, can produce “neurologic complications such as neuropathy, ataxia, seizures, and neurobehavioral changes.” [2]

Neurologic deficits, including axonal neuropathy and cerebellar ataxia, are among the most common extraintestinal symptoms associated with celiac disease. In addition, elevated levels of anti-gliadin Ab have been associated with idiopathic neuropathy and ataxia, even in the apparent absence of the characteristic mucosal pathology. [2]

I’ve bolded that last part because it shows that you can have neurological damage from wheat even if your intestine is doing fine.

Neuronal synapsin has been reported to be reduced in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. [7] Both diseases have been tied to wheat consumption. It’s possible that wheat-derived autoimmune attacks on synapsin may be a causal factor in both diseases.

The ability of wheat to induce peculiar autoimmune reactions is perhaps best illustrated in schizophrenia. Schizophrenics frequently have antibodies to wheat, but not the ones that occur in celiac disease:

In contrast to celiac disease patients, an association between the anti-gliadin immune response and anti-TG2 antibody or HLA-DQ2 and -DQ8 markers was not found in individuals with schizophrenia. In addition, the majority of individuals with schizophrenia and anti-gliadin antibody did not exhibit antibody reactivity to deamidated gliadin peptides. Further characterization of the antibody specificity revealed preferential reactivity towards different gluten proteins in the schizophrenia and celiac disease groups. These findings indicate that the anti-gliadin immune response in schizophrenia has a different antigenic specificity from that in celiac disease and is independent of the action of transglutaminase enzyme and HLA-DQ2/DQ8. [8]

There are multiple mechanisms by which wheat consumption contributes to schizophrenia and other mental illnesses – we mentioned opioid peptides last week – and elimination of wheat should be a first step in treating schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and other mental illnesses.

Conclusion

Wheat is a toxic food which can trigger auto-antibodies against a variety of tissues, precipitating a diverse array of autoimmune conditions. Many of these autoimmune conditions have not yet been characterized.

Other grains and legumes can induce autoimmune damage in similar fashion. In a comment today, John Wilson noted that he had recurring mouth sores until he gave up peanuts, which cured the problem. Peanuts are a legume and, much like wheat, contain a variety of immunogenic toxins.

If you have an odd, unexplained medical condition, try Step Two of our book – removing toxic foods from the diet. Removing immunogenic toxins will cure many pathologies, and make it easier to diagnose whatever is left over.

Related Posts

Other posts in this series:

  1. Wheat Is A Cause of Many Diseases, I: Leaky Gut Oct 26, 2010.
  2. Why Wheat Is A Concealed Cause of Many Diseases, III: Adjuvant Activity Nov 01, 2010.

References

[1] Dieterich W et al. Cross linking to tissue transglutaminase and collagen favours gliadin toxicity in coeliac disease. Gut. 2006 Apr;55(4):478-84. http://pmid.us/16188922.

[2] Alaedini A et al. Immune cross-reactivity in celiac disease: anti-gliadin antibodies bind to neuronal synapsin I. J Immunol. 2007 May 15;178(10):6590-5. http://pmid.us/17475890.

[3] Alaedini A, Green PH. Autoantibodies in celiac disease. Autoimmunity. 2008 Feb;41(1):19-26. http://pmid.us/18176861.

[4] Shaoul R, Lerner A.  Associated autoantibodies in celiac disease. Autoimmun Rev. 2007 Sep;6(8):559-65. http://pmid.us/17854749.

[5] Natter S et al. IgA cross-reactivity between a nuclear autoantigen and wheat proteins suggests molecular mimicry as a possible pathomechanism in celiac disease. Eur J Immunol. 2001 Mar;31(3):918-28. http://pmid.us/11241297.

[6] Sategna-Guidetti C et al. Binding by serum IgA antibodies from patients with coeliac disease to monkey heart tissue. Scand J Gastroenterol. 2004 Jun;39(6):540-3. http://pmid.us/15223677.

[7] Vawter MP et al. Reduction of synapsin in the hippocampus of patients with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Mol Psychiatry. 2002;7(6):571-8. http://pmid.us/12140780.

[8] Samaroo D et al. Novel immune response to gluten in individuals with schizophrenia. Schizophr Res. 2010 May;118(1-3):248-55. http://pmid.us/19748229.

Wheat Is A Cause of Many Diseases, I: Leaky Gut

Posted by on October 26, 2010 81 comments

I realized last week that I often call wheat the most toxic food, but I haven’t really explained why on the blog. The book has a detailed explanation, which focuses on toxicity effects and on autoimmune processes attacking the gut and thyroid. Here I would like to add to the book’s argument by showing how wheat causes other autoimmune diseases.

There are about 50 diseases which are thought to have an autoimmune basis. Autoimmune diseases are caused by three processes:

  1. Leaky gut and inflammation. A leaky gut lets bacteria and food toxins enter the body. In the body, these precipitate an immune response which creates inflammation and a chance for antibodies to form.
  2.  “Molecular mimicry.” A bacterial protein or food toxin resembles a human protein sufficiently closely that an antibody to the foreign protein may also recognize human proteins, potentially precipitating attacks on self tissue.
  3. Adjuvant activity. Vaccines are produced by bonding an antigen (the target of the hoped-for antibody) to an adjuvant (a molecule that greatly increases the likelihood antibodies will be made – a sort of catalyst). If a “molecular mimic” can bind to an adjuvant, then autoimmune disease becomes much more likely.

Wheat causes many autoimmune diseases because it promotes all three aspects. I’ll look at each aspect in a separate post this week.

Leaky Gut

In a recent comment – it’s nice to have smart readers! – Rich brought up the links between wheat and leaky gut.

Leaky gut is the first step toward autoimmune disease. As a recent review states:

Susceptibility to at least 50 diseases, including celiac disease (CD) and type 1 diabetes (T1D), has been associated with specific HLA class I or class II alleles. A common denominator of these diseases is the presence of several preexisting conditions that lead to an autoimmune process…. In all cases, increased permeability precedes disease and causes an abnormality in antigen delivery that triggers immune events, eventually leading to a multiorgan process and autoimmunity. [1]

Gluten is a complex of proteins found in wheat, rye, oats (PAJ: see comments), barley, and other grains. One part of gluten is a type of protein called prolamins, which are chiefly responsible for gut damage:

It is the gliadin fraction of wheat gluten and similar alcohol-soluble proteins in other grains (collectively known as prolamins) that are associated with the development of intestinal damage. A common feature of the prolamins of wheat, rye, and barley is a high content of glutamine (>30%) and proline (>15%), whereas the nontoxic prolamins of rice and corn have lower glutamine and proline content. [1]

I’m quoting this because it speaks to the differences among grains. Rice and corn do not contain gluten. Corn contains other dangerous toxins, but is not a primary cause of autoimmune disease. Rice is the only grain we consider safe to eat.

From Cholera to the Cause of Leaky Gut

The mechanisms by which wheat causes leaky gut have been intensively studied by Dr. Alessio Fasano’s group. In 1995 Dr. Fasano and colleagues discovered that a toxin released by Vibrio cholerae, the bacterium that causes cholera http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cholera, causes tight junctions to open for a time. [2] This makes the small intestine leaky.

Dr. Fasano and colleagues suspected that the bacterial protein’s action must mimic some natural human protein which controls intestinal permeability. In 2000, they discovered this human protein and named it “zonulin.” [3]

Wheat and Crohn’s Disease

They subsequently showed that gliadin stimulates zonulin release. Gliadin binds to a receptor called CXCR3, and activation of this receptor triggers zonulin release and increased intestinal permeability.

Interestingly, zonulin release was much higher and longer-lasting in Crohn’s disease patients than in healthy patients. [1] Restriction of gluten restores intestinal integrity in Crohn’s disease patients.

So Crohn’s disease patients should absolutely not eat wheat!

Leaky Gut and Type I Diabetes

A leaky small intestine is a feature of many autoimmune diseases, but Crohn’s disease and Type I diabetes are notable for highly permeable small intestines. Patients with both diseases have high serum levels of zonulin. [1]

In a rat model of Type I diabetes, the BioBreeding diabetes prone or “BBDP” line of rats often develops a leaky gut at age 50 to 75 days when eating a (toxic) diet of rat chow. Zonulin levels increase up to 35-fold at this time, but were reduced if the rats were fed a gluten-free diet. Rats with the highest zonulin levels developed Type I diabetes develops 15 to 25 days later. If a compound that blocks the action of zonulin is given to the rats, Type I diabetes incidence is reduced 70%. [1, 4]

This shows how crucial a leaky gut is to onset of autoimmune diseases like Type I diabetes, and also how quickly diseases can develop once the gut is compromised. The longer the gut is leaky, the greater the likelihood that some autoimmune disease will develop.

In humans, the relationships between these diseases are much the same as in rats. Crohn’s disease and Type I diabetes are co-morbid: the prevalence of Crohn’s among Type I diabetics is 6- to 9-fold higher than in the general population. Meanwhile, newborn children exposed to wheat at 3 months of age or earlier, when the gut is immature, are 4- to 5-fold more likely to develop Type I diabetes. [4]

Conclusion

Leaky gut is a prerequisite for development of autoimmune disease. Wheat seems to create a transient, mild leaky gut in nearly everyone, but in Crohn’s disease the gut becomes chronically and severely leaky in response to wheat consumption.

In rats, this leaky gut can lead to development of autoimmune diseases like Type I diabetes in as little as a few weeks.

If you eat wheat, it’s probably only a matter of time before you develop some disease or other. All of the autoimmune diseases, from rheumatoid arthritis to Hashimoto’s to lupus, are made more likely by wheat consumption. Why not switch to rice or other “safe starches” and save yourself some trouble?

Related Posts

Other posts in this series:

  1. Why Wheat Is A Concealed Cause of Many Diseases, II: Auto-Antibody Generation. Oct 28, 2010.
  2. Why Wheat Is A Concealed Cause of Many Diseases, III: Adjuvant Activity Nov 1, 2010.

References

[1] Visser J et al. Tight junctions, intestinal permeability, and autoimmunity: celiac disease and type 1 diabetes paradigms. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2009 May;1165:195-205. http://pmid.us/19538307.

[2] Fasano A et al. Zonula occludens toxin modulates tight junctions through protein kinase C-dependent actin reorganization, in vitro. J Clin Invest. 1995 Aug;96(2):710-20. http://pmid.us/7635964.

[3] Wang W et al. Human zonulin, a potential modulator of intestinal tight junctions. J Cell Sci. 2000 Dec;113 Pt 24:4435-40. http://pmid.us/11082037.

[4] Watts T et al. Role of the intestinal tight junction modulator zonulin in the pathogenesis of type I diabetes in BB diabetic-prone rats. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2005 Feb 22;102(8):2916-21. http://pmid.us/15710870.

Love’s Labors Lost

Posted by on August 10, 2010 14 comments

One of my favorite writers is Elizabeth Scalia, “The Anchoress,” now a blogger for First Things. She has long suffered from a condition diagnosed as lupus, an autoimmune disease, but now after many years has been discovered to have Lyme disease. Lyme is a treatable infectious condition. Elizabeth writes:

A too-long-undiagnosed bout with Lyme Disease has left me challenged with arthritis and some neurological damage. The arthritis has its uses: I can predict rain, and the pain gives me something to offer up in prayer, or as penance.

Not so the neurological issues. At the peak of my illness I was unable to figure out how to do the dishes; my organizational skills have never fully recovered, and verbally I sometimes wander into strange lands, referring to cereal as cookies, or to hats as helmets.

Regular readers of this blog will know that I am not surprised that an “autoimmune” disease has turned out to be an infectious disease. Autoimmunity (where it genuinely exists – chronic infections are often misdiagnosed as autoimmune conditions even where no autoimmunity is present) seems to be mainly a side effect of chronic infections – collateral damage in a guerilla war with pathogens that conceal themselves behind human “cellular shields.”

Antibodies against the thyroid and gut engendered by gluten disappear within six months after cessation of wheat eating. [1, 2] I suspect that most autoantibodies engendered by pathogens will disappear on similar time scales once the underlying infection is cured.

I have previously written of my conviction that Alzheimer’s is an infectious disease. This conviction that grew out of my own experience: I had a 17-year chronic illness characterized by increasingly severe and embarrassing memory loss. At its worst I could not remember a friend with whom I had shared a small office for a year, and could not write (because I could not remember the previous paragraph when starting a new one, nor recall illustrative examples). The whole illness was cured by diet and antibiotics, and my memory is back to normal. I suspect that nearly all cases of Alzheimer’s can be cured by the same methods (the most important of which can be found here).

Elizabeth writes of the effect these diseases can have on a marriage:

CBS News correspondent Barry Petersen recently filed a report on the early-onset Alzheimer’s that began affecting his wife, Jan Chorlton, at the age of forty. It is an undeniably moving story; after introducing the viewer to images of the beautiful and lively Chorlton, the report shows us Petersen’s sixty-year old, still-beautiful wife, now living in what appears to be a top-notch assisted-living facility. She is unable to sustain simple conversation or to recognize her husband. Chorlton talks of a man she will always love, while Petersen openly weeps. When he asks his wife if she can name that man, she giggles, “Mr. Happy.”

Medical experts are introduced and they declare that there is no treatment for Alzheimer’s Disease, and no way to prevent it. In the near-future, we are told, sixteen million Americans will be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease.

Petersen reveals that he is now in a relationship with a widow; they live together, and they both love Jan in what one of them calls “this very peculiar new American family.” The piece closes challenging anyone to gainsay them, who has not walked in their shoes.

But, was it not precisely for such situations that marriage vows were designed? “For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, together or apart.” Love, which is limitless, is supposed to be strong enough – even if we do not think we are – to survive these challenges.

One of the saddest aspects of chronic illness is the damage it can do to marriages. A perusal of chronic disease message boards, like the one I followed at cpnhelp.org, can easily turn up tales of disease sufferers abandoned by their spouses.

It terrifies me to consider where I would be had I not had the persistent support of a loving wife. It is hard to believe I could have recovered without her.

Our motive for writing The Perfect Health Diet is to help people regain and maintain good health – to create healthy centenarians. But perhaps one side effect will be to save a few marriages – to encourage “Mr Happy” to be “Mr Persistent-In-Love.”

Caring for a chronically ill spouse is a labor of love. The laborer deserves his wage, and love deserves its reward. If there is one bit of advice that is more important than any other, in marriage and in disease, it is this: Don’t give up! Don’t ever give up!

References

[1] Berti I et al. Usefulness of screening program for celiac disease in autoimmune thyroiditis. Dig Dis Sci. 2000 Feb;45(2):403-6. http://pmid.us/10711459.

[2] Mainardi E et al. Thyroid-related autoantibodies and celiac disease: a role for a gluten-free diet? J Clin Gastroenterol. 2002 Sep;35(3):245-8. http://pmid.us/12192201.