Re: Neurotoxin summary, mmp9 and vitamin d

[Guest guest]

A member of the Accidental Patient message board posted extracts from

this NHS website today which mentions the links with mmp9, syndrome

x, and vitamin D.

**The role of vitamin D repletion in reduction of disease severity

requires investigation wherever increased MMP9 production is a

feature of the disease process.**

Source - http://www.refer.nhs.uk/ViewRecord.asp?ID=190

Tansy

> A poster on another list did a nice, succinct summary

> of Shoemaker's neurotoxin testing/treatment at my

> request and gave me permission to quote it here. I

> thought the info would be helpful. I'm really geared,

> as with the secondary porphyria, to look at herxing

> from the perspective of what can be tested for and

> either ruled out or treated. Like Tony, I appreciate

> having some science and clinical assessment tools. If

> we have some ways to sort out " herxing " from

> inadequate abx (Tony's findings), secondary porphyria,

> neurotoxin, poorly cleared endotoxin, cytokine storm,

> etc, we might have more tools available to us than

> low-dosing, etc.

> Jim

> From:

> ME-CFS-FMS_infections

> Hi Jim -

> " Could you summarize the ways you are minimizing herx

> via the methods in Mold Warriors? It would help a lot

> of us to know. I've done activated charcoal and the

> vitamin C flush for neurtoxins. Both help, but not as

> significantly as you note. "

> Will do what I can. Just bear with me. Still in a fog

> here.

>

> The herx reaction involves MMP9 (that's

> metalloproteinase-9). This is the enzyme that delivers

> substances from the within the blood vessels to the

> tissues. The blood vessels are not easily broached,

> and in fact, that is their job - to hang on to your

> blood so it can be pumped throughout the body. When

> you are exposed to biotoxins, such as those produced

> by certain forms of fungus or spirochetes, MMP9

> skyrockets. One of the things MMP9 moves is cytokines

> - the inflammatory factors that make you feel so sick,

> and the very ones we lack the ability to regulate like

> normal people do. These cytokines not only create the

> plaque formation that looks like MS in the joints, but

> they also get into the muscles where they produces the

> delayed recovery from activity, and into the lungs,

> where you get the coughing and shortness of breath.

> (All the usual symptoms we know so damnably well!) In

> Lyme, for example, when you take antibiotics, tumor

> necrosis factor and MMP9 skyrocket and you're off to

> the races.

>

> These elements, TNF and MMP9, can jump within hours,

> which produces your basic crash. More MMP9 and TNF =

> much more ability to carry more cytokines to parts of

> the body where they can make you feel miserable.

> Disturb the usual mechanism of the illness, as you do

> when you attempt to treat it, and cytokine activity

> goes into high gear.

>

> [Note: This is just a part of the underlying works,

> but all I can give for the moment. I'm more than happy

> to answer what questions I can, because it helps me

> improve my own understanding. I want very much to

> learn this material very thoroughly so I can

> eventually teach the material in simplified form to

> many more of my fellow brain-foggers. But meanwhile, I

> really do recommend reading Shoemaker's books! I'm

> just a student and patient, myself.]

>

> That said, I'll move on to a description of Actos

> (pioglitazone), which is used to control the herx. I

> was somewhat surprised to need it myself, but

> Shoemaker typically uses this for Lyme, so is very

> experienced with its use. This is a well-established

> drug used for diabetes. It blocks cytokine nuclear

> receptor activity and lowers elevated levels of

> leptin, MMP9, and PAI-1. And as you might have

> suspected, if you are taking a drug that controls

> diabetes, there are some dietary controls you have to

> be aware of, though I must say, I'm eating very well.

> (Leptin is very closely associated with control of

> insulin and therefore blood sugar levels.) The

> tradeoff is more than worth it.

>

> There's a great deal more to the how and why of it

> all, but this is the gist of it. You knock down the

> cytokines and MMP9 to get the herx under control. Very

> few physicians use MMP9 as a measure of anything at

> all, so they aren't seeing any objective measure of

> just how bad you feel. And you know how that goes.

> With most of them, if they can't see it on a lab test,

> it either doesn't exist or isn't that important. Here

> we have both a set of objective tests (TNF and MMP9)

> and a treatment that works.

>

> According to my understanding, anything you do to

> disturb the toxins (any of the various " flushes " being

> used) that actually have the intended ultimate effect

> would make you sick via the additional cytokine

> activity, while those that don't make you sick

> probably aren't working sufficiently well to have the

> desired effect. It's a catch-22, and a nasty one. You

> HAVE to be able to flush more biotoxins than you take

> on, or you not only do not become more well, you only

> become more and more poisoned. (In theory, you could

> probably herx mildly forever, yet never actually detox

> sufficiently to make it count for anything - which is

> a scenario we have already lived, and it isn't much of

> a life, right?) So the only solution is to fix the

> herx so that you can tolerate a medicine serious

> enough to get the job done right.

>

> http://chronicneurotoxins.com

> Dr. Shoemaker's site, contains full explanations

> online VCS tests, and references to Shoemaker's

> research and papers

>

> http://moldwarriors.com

> Dr. Shoemaker's books " Desperation Medicine " and " Mold

> Warriors " can be purchased here. These are suitable

> for patients and physicians alike. Doc Shoe's quite a

> storyteller.

>

> I hope this is of some help to you.

> J.

[Guest guest]

Apart from some awkward phrasing at spots -- very good. I have read

several papers by the author in the past.

This paragraph is very interesting....

" Vitamin D treatment prevented worsening of glucose tolerance,

reduced insulin resistance, reduced circulating MMP9 and, to a lesser

extent TIMP-1, thereby increasing TIMP/MMP ratios as well as

reducting blood pressure, circulating triglycerides, PAI-1 in

normoglycemia and reducing serum apolipoprotein b. "

In sort we see this (vitamin D) could be used as an alternative to:

* statins (for circulating triglycerides)

* benicar and other ARBs (for blood pressure)

* an anticoagulant: (see

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasminogen_activator_inhibitor-1

" In inflammatory conditions in which fibrin is deposited in tissues,

PAI-1 appears to play a significant role in the progression to

fibrosis (pathological formation of connective tissue). Presumably,

lower PAI levels would lead to less suppression of fibrinolysis and

conversely a more rapid degradation of the fibrin. " )

> A member of the Accidental Patient message board posted extracts

from

> Source - http://www.refer.nhs.uk/ViewRecord.asp?ID=190