All Immunity is Mucosal – The GUT is No 1
The Gut is The Formula 1 of Immunity
Properly regulated mucosal immunity is critical to overall health and well being. The cells found in the mucosal surfaces of the body meet on a daily basis, local challenges from foods, microbes and environmental pollutants. The result is a series of immunological decisions that on a single day exceed those made by the systemic immune system in a lifetime.
The immune system bound up in these tissues – mostly the ‘innate immune system’, must translate this infornatic onslaught to the ’systemic immune system’ affecting the body as a whole. Immune tolerance or homeostasis in these tissues will help ensure adequate nourishment from passing ‘foreign’ food stuffs and so maintain bacterial/commensal balance. It is this bacterial balance that will ensure immunological tolerance so keeping the balance of power in the hands of health promoters (commensals) via this yin and yang relationship.
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Revolutionary Advances in the Prevention of Demyelinating Diseases.
Vit D Essential for MS Patients
This collective review focuses on three major factors that influence the incidences of multiple sclerosis (MS) to include ultraviolet radiation (UVR), vitamin D3 supplementation, and vitamin D receptor gene (VDRG) polymorphisms.
In general, the rate of MS increases with latitude. Individuals tend to carry their original risk with them if they migrate to a different latitude after adolescence. It is important to emphasise that UVR increases the synthesis of vitamin D3, which has a known immune suppressant action via the VDRG. Clinical studies have pointed out that vitamin D deficiency may exacerbate the development of MS.
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Science Connects Diet And Intestinal Bacteria With Healthier Immune Systems
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Whilst to nutritionists and most people who understand the role of nutrients in health, the idea that the bacteria in our gut impacts on disease risk seems almost common knowledge, there is still a shortage of hard science to back this up. In the international journal Nature, periodic examples of how science is catching up appear. In the Oct 29th edition an article out of Australia really adds some substance to the role of food and bacteria in health and disease.
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Blastocystis hominis. Is It Really A Problem?
Blastocystis hominis cyst-like forms in a wet mount stained in iodine
Problem?
Michael Ash BSc DO ND FDipION reviews the latest studies on this pathogen.
Blastocystis is an unusual enteric protozoan parasite of humans and many animals. It has a worldwide distribution and is often the most commonly isolated organism in parasitological surveys. The parasite has been described since the early 1900s, but only in the last decade or so have there been significant advances in the understanding of Blastocystis biology.
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Vitamin D: Summary Papers To Provide Relevant Clinical Update
A summary of 6 papers exploring the various relationships discovered between Vit D status, health and disease risk.
Vitamin D Supplementation Improves Glycmic Control in Diabetes
Regular dosing of vitamin D (2000 IU/day) in early childhood has been shown to reduce the risk of developing Type 1 diabetes (up to an 80% reduction projected over the next 30 years),
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Lactobacillus GG: A Potent Immune Regulator Effective in Many Disorders
New Research Reveals Probiotic’s Anti-Toxin, Anti-Inflammatory, Immune Boosting Properties
Lactobacillus GG is the most prolifically researched probiotic in the world—over 400 studies have been published that document its remarkable immune-modulating properties.This unique immunobiotic was isolated from a healthy human in 1985 by a team of two Tufts University researchers,Barry Goldin, M.S., Ph.D. and Sherwood L. Gorbach, M.D. They spent nearly a decade testing organisms until they discovered one that was a potent antimicrobial, survived stomach and bile acid, and was very, very sticky—it adhered well to the gut mucosa.
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LGG (Culturelle) Its Workings Are Explained
Valio’s Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG®) is the most frequently studied and used probiotic. Under the supervision of researchers at the Institute of Biotechnology, and the Department of Basic Veterinary Sciences at the University of Helsinki, an international research team determined the genome sequences of LGG and a bacterium closely related to it. The results, published in the renowned PNAS journal, shed light on the origin of probiotic mechanisms.
Many research publications have confirmed that bacteria promote health and support immune systems and improve digestion. Some probiotics can also alleviate the symptoms suffered by those with irritable bowel syndrome. As many as every fifth westerner suffers from this pain, also called spastic colon. Studies say that LGG probiotics are also an effective treatment method for reducing children’s atopic symptoms, and the risk of respiratory infections.
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Treatment of Hypovitaminosis D in Infants and Toddlers
The optimal status for Vitamin D is unlikely to be met without the ingestion of Vit D supplements. This is in part because the minimum levels are being revised upwards and the suitable food sources are inadequate in nutrient density and are erratically consumed. In addition the change in sunbathing practices in the northern hemisphere has led to a widely recognised Vit D deficiency pandemic.
Children are especially vulnerable to the adverse consequences of Vit D deficiency during their growing years. Recognising the need for supplemental intervention a group of clinicians and scientists from Divisions of Adolescent Medicine and Endocrinology, Children’s Hospital Boston, and Biotics Research Corporation explored the effectiveness of differing forms of Vit D3 in the restoration of normal levels of Vit D status in children.
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Common Ills are Linked to Memory Loss
Patients with Alzheimer’s disease who have common bacterial infections suffer greater memory loss, claims a recent study published in Neurology. The effect is said to be linked to increased levels of the pro-inflammatory cytokine tumour necrosis factor (TNFa) caused by systemic inflammation.
Previous research has suggested that acute systemic inflammation might exacerbate neurodegeneration, so the researchers, based at the University of Southampton, UK, measured the level of TNFa in the blood of 222 elderly people with Alzheimer’s disease and assessed their ability to perform cognitive tests over a 6 month period.
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Mechanisms of Foxp3+ T Regulatory Cell-Mediated Suppression
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Foxp3+ T regulatory (Treg) cells control all aspects of the immune response. This paper reviews the in vitro model systems that have been developed to define the mechanisms used by Treg cells to suppress a large number of distinct target cell types.
