RE: Non-human molecules absorbed by eating red meat increase risk of food poisoning in humans

[Guest guest]

The article looks unreliable, at best, to me. They used the term " the

researchers proved " ... Researchers rarely use that word!

Dave

________________________________

From: rd-usa [mailto:rd-usa ] On Behalf Of

Dineright4@...

Sent: Friday, October 31, 2008 1:37 PM

To: rd-usa

Subject: Re: Non-human molecules absorbed by eating red meat increase

risk of food poisoning in humans

Would love to see the full article when it comes out and the research, since I

think their conclusions are flawed. Instead of eating " well cooked and

pasteurized " products, how about eating " uncontaminated beef and dairy " that's

been properly handled/raised/processed, etc.

If rare meat/raw milk are so horrible, I'm surprised the human race is still

alived, since until not long ago, everybody that drank milk, drank raw milk.

Always appreciate your posts ne.

Jan

Colleagues, the following is FYI and does not necessarily reflect my own

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Public release date: 29-Oct-2008

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/uoc--erm102308.php

Contact: Debra Kain

ddkain@...<mailto:ddkain%40ucsd.edu>

University of California - San Diego

Eating red meat sets up target for disease-causing bacteria

Non-human molecules absorbed by eating red meat increase risk of food

poisoning in humans

Offering another reason why eating red meat could be bad for you, an

international research team, including University of California, San

Diego School of Medicine professor Ajit Varki, M.D., has uncovered the

first example of a bacterium that causes food poisoning in humans when

it targets a non-human molecule absorbed into the body through red meats

such as lamb, pork and beef.

In findings to be published on line October 29th in advance of print in

the journal Nature, the scientists discovered that a potent bacterial

toxin called subtilase cytotoxin specifically targets human cells that

have a non-human, cellular molecule on their surface. The molecule

-N-glycolylneuraminic acid (Neu5Gc) - is a type of glycan, or sugar

molecule, that humans don't naturally produce.

Subtilase cytotoxin is produced by certain kinds of E. coli bacteria,

causing bloody diarrhea and a potentially fatal disease called

haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS) in humans. Humans usually become

infected after eating contaminated red meat, which is why this is also

known as " hamburger " disease.

Varki, UC San Diego School of Medicine distinguished professor of

medicine and cellular and molecular medicine, and co-director of the

UCSD Glycobiology Research and Training Center, previously discovered

that humans don't produce Neu5Gc because they lack the gene responsible

for its production. Therefore, it was thought that humans should be

resistant to the toxin.

" Ironically, humans may set themselves up for an increased risk of

illness from this kind of E. coli bacteria present in contaminated red

meat or dairy, because these very same products have high-levels of

Neu5Gc, " Varki explained. " The Neu5Gc molecule is absorbed into the

body, making it a target for the toxin produced by E. coli. "

In the Nature study, the researchers discovered that sites where the

Neu5Gc has been incorporated into the human body coincide with toxin

binding. " When the toxin binds to the non-human Neu5Gc receptors, it can

result in serious food-poisoning and other symptoms in humans, " said

Varki. The research emphasizes the need for people to eat only well-cook

meat or pasteurized dairy products, processes that destroy contaminating

bacteria.

Five years ago, Varki and his colleagues at the UC San Diego School of

Medicine published a paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of

Sciences describing how Neu5Gc is absorbed into human tissues -

including the surface of cells lining the intestines and blood vessels -

as a result of eating red meat and milk products. At the time, the

researchers also showed that this foreign molecule generates an immune

response that could potentially lead to inflammation in human tissues.

The UC San Diego study was the first to investigate human dietary

absorption of the Neu5Gc glycans which, while not produced in humans,

does occur naturally in red meats. Levels are very low or undetectable

in fruits, vegetables, eggs, poultry and fish. The researchers proved

that people who ingest Neu5Gc incorporate some of it into their tissues,

and demonstrated that many generated an immune response against the

molecule, conjecturing that a lifetime of gradual incorporation of this

glycan " invader " could result in disease.

###

The UC San Diego team included postdoctoral fellow Jonas C. Löfling and

professor of pathology Nissi M. Varki. The international research

collaborators included Rossjohn and Dr. Beddoe, as well as

Emma Byres and C.C. Wilce from Monash University in ,

Australia; Adrienne W. Paton, C. Paton, Ursula M. Talbot and

Damien C. Chong of the University of Adelaide, South Australia; F.

, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia; and Hai

Yu, Shengshu Huang and Xi Chen, UC Department of Chemistry.

The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health, and by

Australia's National Health and Medical Research Council.

--

ne Holden, MS, RD

" Ask the Parkinson Dietitian " http://www.parkinson.org/

" Eat well, stay well with Parkinson's disease "

" Parkinson's disease: Guidelines for Medical Nutrition Therapy "

http://www.nutritionucanlivewith.com/

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