I know many people whose autoimmune condition appear to have been triggered by mold or fungus exposure. Mold or mould is a fungus — so my focus will be fungus (which included the subset mold). I have not explore this area explicitly before.

From Wikipedia:

Toxic house mold

The common house mold, Trichoderma longibrachiatum, produces small toxic peptides containing amino acids not found in common proteins, like alpha-aminoisobutyric acid, called trilongins (up to 10% w/w). Their toxicity is due to absorption into cells and production of nano-channels that obstruct vital ion channels that ferry potassium and sodium ions across the cell membrane. This affects in the cells action potential profile, as seen in cardiomyocytes, pneumocytes and neurons leading to conduction defects. Trilongins are highly resistant to heat and antimicrobials making primary prevention the only management option.

Fungus Produced Toxins

• “toxins were identified with HPLC/ESI-MS/MS as trichorzianines, trilongins, trichostrigocins and trichostrigocin-like peptaibols.” [2018]
• “Buildings that have been flooded often have high concentrations of Trichoderma spores in the air while drying… inhalation of Trichoderma spores and mycelial fragments may result in exposure to membrane-disrupting peptaibols. This investigation contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of the biologically active natural products produced by fungi commonly found in damp buildings.” [2017]
• “Peptaibols are a family of antimicrobial peptides, which are synthesized by non-ribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPS) and contain high proportions of alpha-aminoisobytyric acid (Aib). Up to now, 317 peptaibols have been identified, and the majority of them are produced by Trichoderma strains.” [2011]

Clearly, mold can and does impact the microbiome. Eliminating the mold in the body (after verifying that it is there) is a first step. The second step is restoring the microbiome.

• “Dr. Brewer reports that chronic fatigue syndrome patients are much more likely than healthy people to have mold toxin in their urine…Brewer found that 94% of his CFS patients had at least one kind of mycotoxin detected in their urine.  ” [src] Discussion of the studies.
• The published studies are [2013] and [2014].
• A recover study:

  Reversal of Refractory Ulcerative Colitis and Severe Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Symptoms Arising from Immune Disturbance in an HLADR/DQ Genetically Susceptible Individual with Multiple Biotoxin Exposures [2016]

”

Antifungal and the Microbiome

Recently I added antifungals to the list of gut modifiers. These are listed at antifungal (prescription):

• amphotericin b (prescription)
• bifonazole (prescription)
• butenafine hydrochloride (prescription)
• butoconazole nitrate (prescription)
• chlorphensin carbamate (prescription)
• ciclopirox ethanolamine (prescription)
• clotrimazole (prescription)
• econazole nitrate (prescription)
• fluconazole (prescription)
• flucytosine (prescription)
• griseofulvin (prescription)
• haloprogin (prescription)
• isoconazole (prescription)
• itraconazole (prescription)
• ketoconazole (prescription)
• liranaftate (prescription)
• miconazole (prescription)
• naftifine hydrochloride (prescription)
• nystatine (prescription)
• oxiconazole nitrate (prescription)
• sertaconazole nitrate (prescription)
• sulconazole nitrate (prescription)
• terconazole (prescription)
• tiabendazole (prescription)
• tioconazole (prescription)
• tolnaftate (prescription)
• voriconazole (prescription)

The enhancement that I added recently, described in this post, Improved filtering of gut modifiers, allows the impact of various antifungals on your microbiome to be viewed.

The little trick to see the impact of prescription drugs on your ubiome

1. AFTER logging in to http://microbiomeprescription.azurewebsites.net
2. Click one of the above, for example  itraconazole (prescription)
3. You will see it’s address is:  http://microbiomeprescription.com/Library/Modifier?mid2=649
4. Simply add  “&seq=999999” (where 9999999 is your own sequence number) and you will see what this antifungal also impacts. An example (for a person with mold triggered CFS is used)

Finding a perfect fit is unlikely. The algorithm used on the site attempts to balance the pro-and-cons. Your medical professional can do your own tuning with the above. With prescription drugs there can be many factors involved for a specific patient.

For example, this one may be a better profile than above:

with this appearing to be the second choice

Bottom Line — review for other prescription drugs

With drugs, pharmacists know the term “contraindicated“. This means two drugs have undesired side-effects. Using the above technique, we can identify drugs that may be contraindicated for your current microbiome.

This is an education post to facilitate discussing this approach with your medical professionals. It is not medical advice for the treatment of any medical condition. Always consult with your medical professional before doing any  changes of diet, supplements or activity. Some items cites may interfere with prescription medicines.

 

 

 

A reader asks if it was possible for recommendations, such as shown below

If you click on an item, could it be filtered ONLY to the bacteria you have!!!

So instead of:

You get a shorter list:

Enhancement

Information about your ubiome is now displayed.  If it moved in the opposite direction to preference, a CAUTION is added.

Bottom Line

This modification should allow those with less cognitive impairment to determine which ones on the lists of suggestions/recommendations they may value most.

I have created two new pages to visually illustrate relationships with various bacteria and various autoimmune conditions.

• http://microbiomeprescription.com/Library/AutoImmuneChart
• http://microbiomeprescription.com/Library/AutoImmuneChart2

The bigger the bar on the right, the more autoimmune conditions are associated with this bacteria taxonomy.

The other chart is changing the two columns around.

I have written about Sjögren syndrome in several prior posts.

• https://cfsremission.wordpress.com/2016/10/23/sjogrens-syndrome-and-the-microbiome/
• https://cfsremission.wordpress.com/2015/12/12/dry-mouth-and-probiotics/
• https://cfsremission.wordpress.com/2016/10/22/who-are-the-most-active-sjogrens-syndrome-researchers/

A reader just got an addition of Sjögren syndrome to their diagnosis, so I checked the literature and added what is reported to http://microbiomeprescription.com/

At the phylum level (highest level), there was a 50% match with the literature. The new profile is shown below.

Bottom Line

All of the autoimmune profiles come from different studies, often with different measurement methods. The profiles are the best current knowledge but are far from being definitive. The current list are:

ADHD – Attention-deficit syndrome
Alzheimer’s Disease
Autism
Autoimmune Disease
Brain Injury
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Diabetes Type 2
Crohn’s Disease
Depression
Fibromyalgia
Gout (Arthritis)
Hashimoto’s thyroiditis
High Blood Pressure
Histamine Issues
Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Metabolic Syndrome
Mood Disorders
Rheumatoid arthritis
Schizophrenia
Sjogren’s Syndrome
Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
Ulcerative colitis

This is an education post to facilitate discussing this approach with your medical professionals. It is not medical advice for the treatment of any medical condition. Always consult with your medical professional before doing any  changes of diet, supplements or activity. Some items cites may interfere with prescription medicines.

 

 

This is post M, that is #1000 post on this blog. In it I will attempt to answer Nick’s comment on Thick Blood, Clots dimension of CFS etc

Nick:

I assume the minimum list are still tests rarely done? It’s interesting reading, especially as my wife’s head symptoms are getting worse, I’m wondering if there’s a blood flow issue and wonder how I could test the theory safely?

First thing, by medical standards, this can only be answered by a hematologist that is willing to do a full comprehensive panel, and an insurance company willing to pay for it.

• What I can do is share some experiences that I have had.
• Readings on Coagulation Disorders:
  • Merck Manual
  • Medications for Coagulation Defects and Disorders

There are more than one defect!!

I recall literature stating that they estimate that only 80-90% of the thick blood issues can be identified by lab tests. My own defect, Factor II or Prothrombin G20210A was only discovered in the 1990’s despite

• Antithrombin III Deficiency (4 drugs)

• Bleeding Associated with Coagulation Defect (0 drugs)

• Coagulopathy of Renal Failure (0 drugs)

• Congenital Fibrinogen Deficiency (2 drugs)

• Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation (0 drugs)

• Factor IX Deficiency (10 drugs)

• Factor VII Deficiency (6 drugs)

• Factor X Deficiency (2 drugs)

• Factor XIII Deficiency (3 drugs)

• Hemophilia (53 drugs in 4 topics)

• Hypoprothrombinemia (15 drugs in 4 topics)

• von Willebrand’s Disease (9 drugs)

This diagram shows the cascade — if there is an issue at any one point, then thick blood can occur because of this bottleneck.

Cave Lector, hoc est, ad disputationem de tua professio medicinae tantum.

Decreasing Fibrin deposits that reduces oxygen flow

This is actually one that may be a challenge to test by lab results. The fibrin deposits may have happened due to past events — the results are still there (in theory  being slowly dissolved usually) but the cause is no longer there.

• Fibrin on Wikipedia
• Fibrinolytics aka Thrombolysis on Wikipedia

Recently I was on antibiotics and used fibrin dissolvers  (fibrinolytics) to improve the flow of antibiotics into tissue. I gave my physician the notes below — she was very interested and did not raise any objections to my using them. She was also honest: she was unfamiliar with them and could not give guidance. Notes in blue are precisely what I shared with her.

Nattokinase

4000 FU x 4/day

“ a nattokinase/fibrinolytic enzyme and this enzyme may be considered as a new source for thrombolytic agents.” [2011] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Nattokinease+fibrinolytics

Lumbrokinase

80 mg x 4/day

“The six lumbrokinase fractions (F1 to F6) with fibrinolytic activities were purified from ..“ [2004]  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15469696

Serrapeptase

240,000 SPU’s x 4/day

“ reports suggest it to possess anti-atherosclerotic effects also, due to its fibrinolytic and caseinolytic properties.” [2013] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23380245

“concentration of antibiotic in tissue increased by

• ciclacillin – 8.5 fold (850%)
• ampicillin – 5.7 fold (570%)
• cephalexin – 3 to 5 fold (300-500%)
• minocycline – 2.2 fold (220%)”

[1980] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7001087?dopt=Abstract

Bromelain

1200 GDU x 4/day

“ studies demonstrate that bromelain exhibits various fibrinolytic, antiedematous, antithrombotic, and anti-inflammatory activities. “ [2012] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23304525

*Bromelain has been demonstrated to enhance the potentiation of antibiotics (Altern. Med. Rev. 1998;3:302–5)

“[A PLANT PROTEASE FOR POTENTIATION AND FOR POSSIBLE SUBSTITUTION OF ANTIBIOTICS].”  1965, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14295046

Also:

• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/4542541  
• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/397422
• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3467190

Bottom Line on fibrinolytic

• There is a risk of altered drug penetrations here (for antibiotics — well documented). So starting at a low dosage and increasing slowly is recommended.
• It is unlikely there will be an immediate effect. There may be layers and layers of fibrin which may need to be dissolved layer by layer.
• Each of the above acts on different parts/type of fibrin. I usually do a preventative cycle of each for a week, once a quarter.

Aspirin Recklessness

This reckless experiment was how I got my family practice MD to order coagulation tests from Hemex Labs (sold to a larger firm since) and got to know the director there well, Dave Berg.

I looked at a regular aspirin bottle and what the maximum dosage it listed.  I did that every day up to the maximum number of days.  Logic was simple —  unless there are complicating factors (like ulcers), it was generally deemed to be safe.

On Drugs.com it states: 3g- 4g /day depending on condition, for example for a child:

The usual full strength aspirin is 325 mg…  so we have 12 tablets/day

Around day 7, I was starting to run up and down the walls! The MD was persuaded of the coagulation dimension to CFS.

Bottom Line for Aspirin

Once I demonstrated the hypothesis and switched to grape seed extract. IMHO, keeping on aspirin had too many other risks if taken continuously. See WebMD for more background on grape seed extract.

Piracetam and other nootropics

I have taken this (in fact, I have a kilogram of piracetam on the shelf!!) and take it whenever I sense any cognitive issues (lack of concentration, slowness of thought). I recall trying to tutor a daughter (with coagulation defects) on math and she was unable to correctly add up columns of integers.  She took two tablets of piracetam and in about 20 minutes, she could not only add up the integers correctly, but also quickly grasp algebra content that was part of her homework.

It’s coagulation impact is described in this 1993 pubmed article

• “The particular efficacy of 8 g piracetam daily in 3 divided doses at 8-hourly intervals can be attributed to its unique dual mode of action; inhibition of platelet function by inhibition of thromboxane A2 synthetase or antagonism of thromboxane A2 and increased formation of prostaglandin I2, together with a rheological effect involving reduction in blood and plasma viscosity through an increase in cell membrane deformability and a reduction of 30-40% in the plasma concentrations of fibrinogen and von Willebrand’s factor. In addition, the administration of piracetam appears to be devoided of adverse effects.”

You will recognized a lot of terms from earlier parts of this post.

Bottom Line on Piracetam (And Turmeric)

This definitely has the best safety profile. This drug is not on the pharmacy lists in the UK, Canada or US, your medical professional may be at a loss to know how to interpret and significant improvement caused by it.

Turmeric with 1% Black Pepper

Curcumin is an extract from Turmeric.

“Data showed that curcumin and BDMC(curcumin extract) prolonged aPTT and PT significantly and inhibited thrombin and FXa activities. They inhibited the generation of thrombin or FXa. In accordance with these anticoagulant activities, curcumin and BDMC showed anticoagulant effect in vivo. Surprisingly, these anticoagulant effects of curcumin were better than those of BDMC indicating that methoxy group in curcumin positively regulated anticoagulant function of curcumin. Therefore, these results suggest that curcumin and BDMC possess antithrombotic activities and daily consumption of the curry spice turmeric might help maintain anticoagulant status.” [2012]

Again, we are talking dosage of 8 – 16 gm/day of turmeric for therapeutic impact.

Bottom Line

Another relative safe way to test. This article found that extracts performed less well than the original. I have seen the same reported elsewhere and thus prefer the original instead of extracts usually!.

Bottom Line

Above are sharing of my experiences. I recall from conversations with Dave Berg that some coagulation defects are very hard to treat.

For more information, see these conversations with Dave Berg:

Hemex Protocol and Dave Berg

• Dave Berg – CFS Radio Program 1999-08-29
• Transcript of Townhall with Dave Berg, Hemex Labs, (#1)
• Transcript of Townhall with Dave Berg, Hemex Labs (#2)
• Transcript of Townhall with David Berg, Hemex Labs  (#3)
• Transcript of Townhall with Dave Berg, Hemex Labs (#4)

 

Usual Disclaimer:

This is an education post to facilitate discussing this approach with your medical professionals. It is not medical advice for the treatment of any medical condition. Always consult with your medical professional before doing any  changes of diet, supplements or activity. Some items cites may interfere with prescription medicines.