Fw: Some Women With Breast Implants May Be Genetically Predisposed to Illness

[Guest guest]

From: " Ilena Rose " <ilena@...>

Sent: Friday, August 03, 2001 6:30 PM

Subject: Some Women With Breast Implants May Be Genetically Predisposed to

Illness

> QUESTIONS:

>

> Why isn't this being studied further?

>

> Why aren't women being tested PRE-implants now to see if they may have a

> genetic pre-disposition?

>

> This says: " Young and his co-workers are now trying to find out what is

> triggering the production of autoantibodies. "

>

> Really? Where are the updates?

>

> Where are the follow ups?

> [it was 3 years ago when our Dintino posted this.]

>

>

> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

>

>

> Some Women With Breast Implants

> May Be Genetically Predisposed to Illness

>

> by Caroline Decker

>

> Contact:

> Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis

> Caroline Decker

> 314-286-0109

>

>

> Anecdotal reports of illness by some women with silicone gel breast

implants

> eventually led the federal Food and Drug Administration in 1992 to ban

their

> use pending a safety review. However, researchers still do not know why

some

> women with implants, and not others, develop symptoms suggestive of an

illness.

> Now, a study by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in

St.

> Louis concludes that genetic factors may play a role.

>

> The study found that women with breast implants who had debilitating

symptoms

> such as chronic fatigue, burning breast pain, muscle or joint pain were

more

> likely to share genetic characteristics that differentiate them from women

with

> breast implants who have no symptoms.

>

> " To our surprise, we found that some women with implants may be

genetically

> predisposed to develop symptoms, " said lead researcher Leroy Young, M.D.,

a

> plastic and reconstructive surgeon at Washington University School of

Medicine.

>

> Moreover, the researchers found that women with breast implants and

symptoms

> also were more likely than others in the study to produce autoantibodies

> against their B cells. B cells are a key component of the immune system,

and

> high frequencies of such autoantibodies are clearly abnormal, Young said.

>

> " Autoantibodies to B cells may hold clues that will help explain why some

women

> with breast implants develop symptoms, " he said. The team reported its

findings

> in the journal of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery in December 1995.

>

> Since the FDA ban, researchers have tried to explain the origin of

symptoms

> reported by some women with breast implants. The lack of a recognized

disease

> in these patients and the failure to find a cause for their symptoms

prompted

> Washington University researchers to conduct the study.

>

> The researchers studied the genetic characteristics of 199 women -- 77

with

> breast implants and symptoms, 37 with implants and no symptoms, 54 healthy

> women without implants and 31 women diagnosed with fibromyalgia, a disease

> defined by pain in connective tissues such as muscles, tendons and

ligaments.

> Fibromyalgia is not known to be immune-mediated and has no known cause.

>

> Women with fibromyalgia were included in the study to determine whether

women

> with breast implants are prone to develop the rheumatological disorder.

> Symptoms of fibromyalgia are similar to those experienced by women with

breast

> implants who develop symptoms. " At first, we thought implants might

trigger

> fibromyalgia, " Young said.

>

> To be considered symptomatic, women with breast implants had to have one

or

> more of the following: burning breast pain, chronic fatigue, vague upper

body

> pain, muscle or joint pain. Their symptoms must have persisted for at

least

> four months and have interfered with daily activities, particularly with

the

> ability to maintain a job.

>

> Women with breast implants and those with fibromyalgia averaged 46 years

of

> age; those in the healthy comparison group were slightly younger,

averaging 37

> years of age. Virtually all women in the study were white. Genetic

> characteristics were determined by analyzing blood samples. The

researchers

> zeroed in on a group of proteins encoded by a collection of genes called

the

> major histocompatibility complex (MHC), which is known to play an

important

> role in immune response. They wanted to find out whether the MHC molecules

of

> symptomatic women with breast implants differed from those of women with

breast

> implants who did not have symptoms.

>

> The investigators used HLA (human leukocyte antigen) typing to analyze

blood

> samples; organ transplant teams use the same procedure to assess genetic

> similarities between organ donors and recipients.

>

> Molecule Could Be a Marker

>

> They found that both women with implants and symptoms and women with

> fibromyalgia were significantly more likely to have an HLA molecule called

> DR-53. The molecule was present in 68 percent of symptomatic breast

implant

> patients and 65 percent of fibromyalgia patients, compared with 35 percent

of

> the asymptomatic implant patients. Fifty-two percent of the healthy women

also

> had the DR-53 molecule, which is similar to its natural frequency among

white

> women. DR molecules play a critical immunoregulatory role because they

control

> the interactions among the immune system's T cells, B cells and

> antigen-presenting cells.

>

> Young and his colleagues initially suspected that women with breast

implants

> and symptoms actually had fibromyalgia. But when they looked closer, they

found

> that 42 percent of symptomatic women with breast implants formed

antibodies

> against their own B cells. Only 2 percent of healthy women formed

> autoantibodies, compared with 14 percent of asymptomatic women with breast

> implants and 19 percent of fibromyalgia patients.

>

> More striking, however, was the observation that 81 percent of the

patients

> with implants who produced autoantibodies were DR-53 positive. This

compares

> with 33 percent of fibromyalgia patients who were positive for both

> autoantibodies and DR-53.

>

> " There's clearly a link between DR-53 and autoantibodies, " Young said.

" But we

> won't know what it means until we find out why these women are forming

> autoantibodies at such a high rate. "

>

> Women with symptoms had had their breast implants for an average of 12

years,

> compared with asymptomatic women who had had their implants for an average

of

> 10 years. So it's possible that the latter group may develop symptoms over

> time. " This may be especially true for those asymptomatic women who are

DR-53

> positive or who have produced autoantibodies to their own B cells, " Young

said.

>

> Young and his co-workers are now trying to find out what is triggering the

> production of autoantibodies. If they are formed in response to silicone

gel or

> one of its components, then the asymptomatic implant group also might be

> expected to have high frequencies. On the other hand, if the

autoantibodies are

> somehow related to the presence of DR-53, the fibromyalgia patients might

be

> expected to have higher frequencies of B cell autoantibodies.

>

> " We can't fully explain the highly statistically significant formation of

> autoantibodies to B cells, but their presence suggests the activation of

an

> immune-mediated process that is related to DR-53 and breast implant

exposure, "

> Young said.

>

> If the study's results are confirmed, DR-53 could be viewed as a marker

for

> individuals who may be predisposed to develop an immune-mediated response

or

> hypersensitivity reaction following silicone breast implants. But Young

> cautioned that it is too early for the information to be used clinically

and

> that women with implants should not rush to their doctors and request HLA

> tissue typing, a test that costs about $1,300. " The test is useful as a

> research tool but would not be helpful in making clinical decisions, "

Young

> explained. " However, women with breast implants need regular follow-ups

with

> their physicians. "

>

> ###

> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

>

>

> From: Osbourne (dd@...)

> Subject: Re: Breast implants/Fibromyalgia

> Newsgroups: alt.med.fibromyalgia

> Date: 1998/03/02

>

>

>

>

> And on a more serious note, this from 1996. Originally from Ann Bradley,

> though that should go almost without saying. Take good care. LLL -g

>

> ----

> Westport, Apr 01 (Reuters) - A team of St. Louis researchers believes the

> reason why some women with breast implants reject the implants while

others

> do not is a matter of genetics. Dr. Leroy Young and associates at

> Washington University School of Medicine reported their findings at the

> American Chemical Society's meeting in New Orleans last week.

>

> Dr. Young's group used human leukocyte antigen (HLA) tissue typing to

> evaluate 77 women with breast implants and symptoms, 37 women with

> implants and no symptoms, 31 women with fibromyalgia and 54 healthy women

> without implants. Symptomatic women with implants and women with

> fibromyalgia

> were more likely than the other subjects to have the HLA molecule DR-53.

> In fact, 81% of the women with implants who produced autoantibodies and

> 53% of the women with fibromyalgia who produced antibodies were

> positive for DR-53.

>

> Dr. Young explains that the DR molecules play " ..a critical

immunoregulatory

> role..because they control the interactions among the immune system's

> T cells, B cells, and antigen-presenting cells. " He sees, " ...a clear

> link between DR-53 and autoantibodies. " The results, if confirmed, means

> DR-53 could become a marker that would identify patients who would be

> hypersensitive to silicone implants.

>

> ----

> Why isn't everyone being tested for DR-53? Or even just those looking

> into breast augmentation. Dunno. Please spread the word. -g

>

>

>