This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Knowledge & Support Community

http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/episode/20 ... ur-brains/

very interesting. read or listen .

Grain Brain: Experts disagree over whether grains are bad for our brains

There's some interesting peer-reviewed research on this topic, erin--being done by Dr. Alessio Fasano at the University of Maryland.
I think avoiding gluten might be a good idea for pwMS.
Zonulin is a protein in gluten, and it's a gatekeeper for the endothelium.
Zonulin can signal the endothelium to open, and become more permeable, which becomes a problem in the intestines (what we call "leaky gut") and celiac disease, as well as for the blood brain barrier.

http://umm.edu/news-and-events/news-rel ... e-patients
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2570116/
http://journals.lww.com/jpgn/Fulltext/2 ... n.232.aspx

cheer

cheerleader wrote:There's some interesting peer-reviewed research on this topic, erin--being done by Dr. Alessio Fasano at the University of Maryland.
I think avoiding gluten might be a good idea for pwMS.
Zonulin is a protein in gluten, and it's a gatekeeper for the endothelium.
Zonulin can signal the endothelium to open, and become more permeable, which becomes a problem in the intestines (what we call "leaky gut") and celiac disease, as well as for the blood brain barrier.

http://umm.edu/news-and-events/news-rel ... e-patients
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2570116/
http://journals.lww.com/jpgn/Fulltext/2 ... n.232.aspx

cheer

EXCELLENT information on zonulin, cheer!

My take on this, of course, is that, after the zonulin opens the tight junctions of the intestines, too much insulin crosses from the intestines into the bloodstream – Correction: the digestive enzymes secreted by the pancreas enter the small intestine; the pancreatic hormones, of which insulin is one, enter the mesenteric blood vessels, specifically the portal vein. I think wheat gluten simply raises blood glucose and the insulin response. I think it is this excess insulin that causes my MS symptoms.

Thank you, cheer.

remember I posted this doc about the secret world of sugar .

http://www.thisisms.com/forum/diet-f9/topic23155.html

and someone called Alzheimers diabetes of the brain .

lyndacarol wrote:
EXCELLENT information on zonulin, cheer!
My take on this, of course, is that, after the zonulin opens the tight junctions of the intestines, too much insulin crosses from the intestines into the bloodstream. I think it is this excess insulin that causes my MS symptoms.
Thank you, cheer.

Sure, Lyndacarol--
Dr. Fasano is currently looking at diabetes in rats, and finding that intestinal permeability may be leading to the antibody attacks. Makes sense! Most certainly in your situation with insulin. My way of looking at it is that permeability of the endothelium, or endothelial dysfunction, is dangerous. It allows many different plasmic particles access to areas of tissue where they are supposed to be absent--like the gut and the brain. Dr. Swank called endothelial dysfunction "capillary fragility" in his MS patients. He noted petechiae, or blood spots on the limbs of MS patients. And we also see it as deposition of iron, bacterial and viral particles in the brains of those with MS. The endothelium runs throughout our bodies---and finding ways to make it stronger, less permeable, and more protective, has been my focus. Limiting the protein zonulin, activated by gluten, is one way. Dr. Fasano calls these particles "allergens"---but they wouldn't be allergens if they didn't cross from the blood stream into tissue in the first place.

from the article linked above:

"With celiac disease, we could never understand how a big protein like gluten was getting through to the immune system. Now we have the answer," explains Dr. Fasano. "People with celiac have an increased level of zonulin, which opens the junctions between the cells. In essence, the gateways are stuck open, allowing gluten and other allergens to pass. Once these allergens get into the immune system, they are attacked by the antibodies," adds Dr. Fasano.
"I believe that zonulin plays a critical role in the modulation of our immune system. For some reason, the zonulin levels go out of whack, and that leads to autoimmune disease," explains Fasano.

Dr. Fasano adds that more research is needed. He is currently conducting experiments with diabetic rats. Preliminary results from his experiments show that insulin dependent diabetes occurs in lab rats about three to four weeks after increased intestinal permeability. The researchers believe the increased intestinal permeability is associated with increased levels of zonulin.

cheerleader wrote:There's some interesting peer-reviewed research on this topic, erin--being done by Dr. Alessio Fasano at the University of Maryland.
I think avoiding gluten might be a good idea for pwMS.
Zonulin is a protein in gluten, and it's a gatekeeper for the endothelium.
Zonulin can signal the endothelium to open, and become more permeable, which becomes a problem in the intestines (what we call "leaky gut") and celiac disease, as well as for the blood brain barrier.

http://umm.edu/news-and-events/news-rel ... e-patients
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2570116/
http://journals.lww.com/jpgn/Fulltext/2 ... n.232.aspx

cheer

Not sure if this was picked up, just a correction,

Zonulin is not a Gluten protein, it is a human protein, a precurser to Haptoglobin 2.
http://www.news-medical.net/news/200909 ... ntity.aspx

Scientists led by Alessio Fasano, M.D., have identified zonulin as a molecule in the human body called haptoglobin 2 precursor.