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The etiology of multiple sclerosis (MS) is considered to involve genetic, environmental, infective, and immunological factors which affect the integrity of a normally assembled myelin sheath, either directly or indirectly resulting in demyelination. In a correlative study involving protein chemical, mass spectrometric, and electron microscopic techniques we have determined that myelin obtained from victims of MS is arrested at the level of the first growth spurt (within the first 6 yr of life) and is therefore developmentally immature. The data supporting this conclusion include (a) the pattern of microheterogeneity of myelin basic protein (MBP); (b) the NH2-terminal acylation of the least cationic component of MBP ("C-8"); (c) the phase transition temperature (Tc) of myelin isolated from victims of MS correlated with the increased proportion of the least cationic component of MBP; and (d) immunogold electron microscopy using an antibody specific for "C-8" showed that the distribution of gold particles in a 2-yr-old infant was similar to the distribution found in a victim of MS. We postulate that this developmentally immature myelin is more susceptible to degradation by one or a combination of factors mentioned above, providing the initial antigenic material to the immune system.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/quer ... med_docsum

Is this is accepted by the mainstream scientific community?

Tom,

This is the first time that I have seen anything about immature myelin. It does make sense though.

gwa

Wow, that's an amazing angle. What's next though?


Dunmann.

So perhaps vitamin D plays a crucial role in nerve/myelin development in the early years of life that the science community is not aware of yet.

Thus when there is a lack of vitamin D, the myelin sheaths do not fully develop, thus making them more susceptible to attacks from EBV, HHV-6 or other sources.

Seems to me like it could be the missing link, why so much research points to certain similarities in MS cases, but then are thrown out based on the argument that large portions of the population are also infected, thus it cannot be the cause.

Makes the most sense out of any other research I have done.

Whether vitamin D is a major player in this disease is still not proven. My concern about the theory is that MS affects a very small percentage of the population and if a lack of sun was the major factor, millions of people should have the disease.

It can't hurt to take the vitamin, however.

gwa

thanks gwa, dunmann, berserker for your thoughts on this.

i guess this isn't accepted by the msc or we should have heard of it by now. but it is still interesting, and if these findings haven't been challenged by other scientists it might be an unconfirmed truth. i tried googling for more info and found one from the same institution. can't really say i understand it or if it is based on the findings of immature myelin but here it is:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/quer ... med_DocSum

and another article about ms, phylogenetics and hormones and many other things. he mentions immature myelin too:

http://anthropogeny.com/Multiple%20Sclerosis.htm

What about all the recent research that suggest that MS is more than just a disease of the Myelin. Let's not forget that!

Good point, billf. it shouldn't be forgotten. don't know how or if it fits with these (unconfirmed?) findings of immature myelin.