Re: Biofilm and Infections

January 12, 2011

Hallelujah!

Interesting theories on how to break down the biofilms and how removing them could make you sicker when the bugs are exposed.

Definitely worth keeping a watch on the progress in this area of study. What is the source of the article?

From: hope0073 <hope0073@...>Subject: [infections] Biofilm and Infectionsinfections Date: Wednesday, January 12, 2011, 8:59 AM

Lyme-Induced Autism Conference Focuses on Biofilm and Toxicity> by Budinger>> Dr. Fry suspects that inside biofilms are pink elongated microorganisms that may be the causative agent of much chronic disease. He is mapping the genetic components of these microorganisms.>> Peeking into the secret world of biofilm and shifting through common environmental toxins may hold the keys to understanding the current epidemic of chronic disease.>> That was the theme at the third annual Lyme-Induced Autism (LIA) Conference held last month in sdale, AZ. The event serves as a think tank for practitioners and parents on the forefront of the epidemic.>> Biofilm - The Hot Topic>> The quest to understand biofilm is changing the paradigm of blood pathology. The conventional wisdom is that blood is sterile because nothing can be cultured from it, but clearly, we have pathogens floating

around in blood. "Blood is not sterile. We have to drop that idea," said Dr. Jeff Wulfman of Vermont. "Forty percent of blood samples contain cell wall deficient bacteria. What are the other factors in blood? We are only beginning to understand.">> Biofilm is also in the blood, as well as the gut and on the teeth. Biofilm is a self-made protective environment in which microbial populations hide from the body's immune system and anti-microbial therapies. Biofilm allows the bugs to evade surveillance of the immune system and our best attempt to throw antibiotics at them. Biofilm communities can be 1000 times more resistant to antibiotics than free-floating bacteria. Ever tried and failed to knock out candida with the anti-candida diet? Well, candida too hides in the biofilm where it helps the bad guys by stimulating inflammation. The National Institutes of Health estimates that nearly 80 percent of chronic microbial infections are due to

biofilm colonies.>> Teasing out elements hidden in blood is what Dr. Fry and his colleagues do at Fry Labs in sdale, Arizona. "I don't think Borrelia is the main problem in Lyme disease," Dr. Fry explained. "We only have one picture of it in the thousands of slides that have gone through our lab. There is something else that stains like bacteria, and looks like bacteria, in people who are sick. Many of the people we see have evidence of biofilm. There is more than one pathogen in biofilm communities, but the microorganism we are mapping now may be the main concern.">> Dr. Fry finds that the sicker a person is, the more there will be biofilm communities in the blood sample. "Six years ago, I established Fry Laboratories to begin to identify the DNA of a particular pathogen we see in the biofilm. We looked at the blood from various patients under the microscope and found signs of this particular microorganism in

many samples from patients ill with chronic Lyme disease. So far, we have found some unique genes that make up this microorganism; no other entity on earth is known to possess them.">> Dr. Fry thinks the day is not far off when we may recognize a single microorganism which hides itself in biofilm, and is responsible for symptoms of Lyme disease, its co-infections, and many other expressions of chronic disease. "As our work progresses, we will be able to further identify the genetic makeup of this pathogen and then develop a reliable test for it," he said. "It may be that we can develop a simple protocol to knock it out.">> But if one bug is the cause of Lyme disease, autism, and so much other chronic disease, why do patients get so many different diagnoses and symptoms? "In the biofilm community, there is a soup where many pathogens hide," Dr. Fry said. "For example, just about everybody over the age of 35 will test positive

for Epstein-Barr virus, but people usually are not sick from it. Not every bug in the biofilm soup is causing symptoms. We think we've found that one is. And the symptoms may vary based upon a person's genetics, environment, and pathogen genotype.">> Dr. Fry's take on biofilms is novel. "I could be barking up the wrong tree, but maybe not. Remember that we used to think stomach ulcers were caused by too much acid production. Then Barry Marshall and Dr. Robin Warren turned medical dogma on its head by proving that a bacterium was the cause. The pair identified the bacterium H. pylori and proved how it causes inflammation, then ulcers. Maybe in 10 years we will be smart enough to know that the 'auto' in 'autoimmune' actually means pathogen and the whole concept of autoimmunity will change. Chronic inflammation is chronic infection. In autoimmune disease, my model is that there is a chronic infection that cannot be eliminated, thus the immune

system is always switched on. The self antibodies are due to apoptosis and death of host cells with host immune response.">> Biofilms are also of great interest to Dr. Anju Usman of Illinois. "All of our tough cases, the non responders - they show biofilms when we run their blood at Fry's lab," she explained. "Scientists are finding biofilms in polluted areas of our body - the teeth, mouth, adenoids, sinuses, and intestinal tract. The immune system recognizes a bug by proteins on its outer membrane. What happens when the bugs don't produce outer membrane proteins? Well, these bugs don't." Biofilms act as a unique cloaking device.>> Dr. Usman is focused on dismantling the biofilm. "Let's look at what happened when experts tackled the superbug, MRSA. One of the most effective drugs against MRSA is vancomycin. But they couldn't knock it out because there was a biofilm. However, when they combined the drug with EDTA, then the

chelating agent pulled out the calcium, magnesium, and iron - all elements of biofilm - and dismantled the film.">> That raises the question of what supplements and nutrients may inadvertently feed the biofilm. "When trying to kill bugs, if you take calcium, you may not be making headway," Usman said. "Calcium, iron, and magnesium block our efforts to dismantle the biofilm.">> Dr. Usman uses EDTA to open up the biofilm. EDTA, ethylenediaminetetr aacetic acid, is a chelating agent used to lower one's body burden of heavy metals. Another important resource is iron chelating compounds. "Outer membrane proteins" are easy for drugs to see, but they are not expressed when iron is present. "Our bodies make proteins, transferrin and lactoferrin, which mop up iron and block the ability of biofilm to form," she said. "But pathogenic bacteria secrete iron chelators to snatch up iron and thus compete with the transferrin and lactoferrin

for what they need to survive."> To break down biofilm, Dr. Usman also uses enzymes such as serrapeptase, derived from silk worms, and nattokinase which penetrates the GI tract and gets into the blood where it breaks down fibrin. Biofilm requires formation of fibrin. Probiotics and synbiotics - a combination of pre- and pro-biotics - crowd out bad bacteria, and also help disrupt biofilm along the mucus membrane.>> "When the film opens up, we do not know what is under there, and the immune system may not know what is under there, so you might get sick," Usman said. "And it is not always about killing the bugs. It is more important to change the gastrointestinal environment so the bugs don't grow."

January 13, 2011

Dr Fry says he thinks he has identified the bacteria in the biofilm. He describes it as a "pink elongated microorganism"). Does he have any idea what it is?