Mycoplasma

[Guest guest]

> MYCOPLASMA ARTHRITIS ANTIBODIES ISRAEL JOINTS INFLAMMATION CYTOKINES

>

> Ben-Gurion University of the Negev 27-Mar-01

>

> Common Bacteria May Trigger Onset of Arthritis Library:

>

> MED Keywords: MYCOPLASMA ARTHRITIS ANTIBODIES ISRAEL JOINTS INFLAMMATION

> CYTOKINES

> Description:

>

> Evidence implicates common mycoplasma bacteria in the triggering or

> exacerbating of rheumatoid arthritis. Journal of Rheumatology 27: 2747

> (Dec 2000)

>

> Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, P.O. Box 653, Beer-Sheva, Israel

> For further information, please contact

>

> E. Tepper, Department of Public Affairs Tel.: 972-8-646-1283 Fax:

> 972-8-647-2937 E-mail: tepperel@...

>

> COMMON BACTERIUM IMPLICATED IN THE TRIGGERING OF RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS

>

> Beer-Sheva, March 19, 2001 - Researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the

> Negev have shown that a well-known bacterium of the mycoplasma family -

> commonly found in the human throat - may be involved in the triggering or

> exacerbation of rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

>

> The team found that fluids from the inflamed, arthritic joints of many

> patients contained the specific DNA characteristic of Mycoplasma

fermentans,

> as well as antibodies against this organism. Their studies

> also indicate that mycoplasmic membrane proteins capable of triggering

> inflammation may also be present.

>

> Collaborating in this investigation are Prof. Shulamith Horowitz and

> research assistant Bela Evinson at BGU's Department of Microbiology and

> Immunology, and Prof. Horowitz and Dr. Abraham Borer of the

> Department of Medicine at the Joyce and Irving Goldman Medical School.

> Prof. Horowitz also serves as head of Department of Medicine A at

> Soroka University Medical Center. A report on their work appears in a

> recent issue of the Canadian publication Journal of Rheumatology.

>

> Rheumatoid arthritis, notes husband-wife team and Shulamith

> Horowitz, is an autoimmune disease, in which the body's immune system is

> triggered to attack normal body tissues. Determining the ultimate cause of

> RA therefore requires the identification of an agent in arthritic joints

> that interacts with the immune system.

>

> Because mycoplasmas definitely cause arthritis in animals, doctors have

> suspected since the early '50s that a mycoplasma found in humans might be

> involved in the disease in man. While a number of researchers over the

> decades have claimed to have isolated live mycoplasma bacteria from the

> joint fluid of RA patients, others who attempted to repeat their findings

> failed to do so.

> However with the development of advanced DNA analysis techniques,

> identification of traces of bacterial genomes has become easier to

> ascertain. Thus British and French scientists have recently shown that M.

> fermentans DNA is present in the joint (synovial) fluid of many RA

> patients, findings confirmed by the studies at BGU. In their initial test

> group of three-dozen RA patients, the BGU scientists found that M.

> fermentans DNA was present in some 20 percent of the arthritic joints

> examined. None of 57 patients with other forms of arthritis had this DNA

in

> their joints.

>

> Of critical significance was the additional discovery that half of the RA

> patients studied, even those with no detectable DNA, had abnormally large

> quantities of antibodies against M. fermentans in their arthritic joints.

> Because these patients had the same low quantities of anti-M. fermentans

> antibodies in their blood serum as do healthy individuals, the BGU team

> believes that the antibodies they found in the synovial fluid were

produced

> there in response to mycoplasma that had entered the joint. In 57 patients

> with other varieties of arthritis, the anti-M. fermentans antibody level

in

> their joints was negligible, even lower than that in their serum.

>

> The BGU scientists also identified the mycoplasmic proteins recognized by

> the antibodies. These are specific membrane components known to activate

the

> production of immune system factors, such as TNF-alpha, which are inducers

> of inflammation. This finding indicates a further mechanism that may

> contribute to the appearance of RA as a result of M. fermentans entering

the

> joint.

>

> " Our studies suggest, " says Horowitz, a rheumatology specialist,

> " that mycoplasmas in the joint may stimulate the immune system to produce

> antibodies and protein factors known as cytokines, several of which

produce

> local inflammation and tissue damage. There are clearly different agents

> leading to RA. Among them, M. fermentans may play an important role. This

> finding adds to the growing list of organisms that have long been

considered

> benign residents of the human body but that modern research indicates may

be

> involved in disease. "

>

> This work is partially supported by a grant from the Israel Ministry of

> Health.

[Guest guest]

Thankyou Patty,

Very informative info. I have also been reading about this, along

with myco bacterium. Some doctors are treating with long term

antibiotics, such as amoxicillin,with excellent results, in some

cases seeming cured of RA. My question though is, where do I find a

doctor who would be willing to do this treatment. I am not following

raw foods totally, but I intend to now. No cooking for me. Gonna get

this acid body alkaline, and do some heavy breathing, deep,deep

,deep. I go to the doctor today to find out results about holtor

monitor. But I am starting to realize I am now also suffering from

anxiety disorder.Hopefully short term. After a dozen trips to the

hospital, and some research, the pattern is showing. You have been so

helpful, I am sure any improvement I am seeing is due to you and all

the girls in this support group. I am waiting for the day I can also

be of help. Thankyou from the bottom of my heart.