Gluten and bacteria ( and Suze esp).

[Guest guest]

OK, , you should like this! And Suze, it relates to the

mercury discussion. It's a great advertisement for feeding

your young'uns breast milk and kefir, I think! I only quotec

bits of it below, it is a long article. The only problem I have

with it is the thesis -- if they did Dr. Fine's test, I'd bet that

more than 75% of twins both have IgA intolerance. In the

25% who don't *test* positive for celiac, likely one of them

is in better shape and doesn't leak so much IgA into the blood.

-- Heidi Jean

http://www.celiac.com/st_prod.html?p_prodid=967

One study looked at 20 pairs of identical twins and 27 pairs of fraternal twins

where at least one twin of the pair was known to have celiac disease. In 75% of

the pairs of identical twins, both twins had celiac disease. In contrast, in

only 11% of the pairs of fraternal twins did both twins have celiac disease.

However, in 25% of the 20 identical twin pairs studied, one twin of the pair did

not have celiac disease1. In another study which followed 5 pairs of female

identical twins for 11-23 years (at least one twin of the pair having celiac

disease or dermatitis herpetiformis), it was found that two of the twins who

began the study with neither celiac disease or dermatitis herpetiformis remained

free of the disease throughout the study2. In other words, something beyond

genetics, some environmental factor, seems to be responsible for the onset of

celiac disease. Exactly what is it that makes one twin intolerant to gluten and

not the other?

Looking for Answers

To find an answer, one might start by asking when do signs of an intolerance to

gluten first begin to emerge? A recent study in the UK looked at a screened

sample of 5,470 children aged 7 years old and found 54 who tested positive for

both tTG antibodies and IgA-EMA (tissue transglutaminase and antiendomysial

antibodies) indicating celiac disease is likely present. This 1% prevalence in

children is comparable to the 1% prevalence of celiac disease in adults in the

UK. Since the prevalence of celiac disease is not greater in adults, this

suggests that the onset of celiac disease begins in early childhood, even in

cases where celiac disease is not diagnosed until later in adulthood. The

authors of this study concluded, “The search for the trigger resulting in the

breakdown of immune tolerance to gluten therefore needs to focus on infancy and

intrauterine life3.”

....

A study of 64 healthy formula and breast-fed infants, aged 0-6 months, examined

fecal samples for intestinal colonization of Bacteriodes fragilis,

Bifidobacterium-like, and Lactobacillus-like bacteria, and compared these

results with counts of IgA, IgM, and IgG antibody-secreting cells in blood

fluids drawn from the infants. The result was that infants colonized with B.

fragilis at one month of age had significantly higher counts of IgA- and

IgM-secreting cells at the age of two months than infants not colonized with B.

fragilis. It was concluded that colonization timing and the type of bacteria

colonizing the gut of newborns may influence the maturation of the naive immune

system14.

....

A Role for Bacteria in Celiac Disease?

As can been seen, commensal microflora play a myriad of complex, diverse and

important roles in normal health and development. Much remains to be

investigated, and new roles and functions microflora play are waiting to be

discovered. The possibility that commensal bacteria are involved in the

pathogenesis of celiac disease cannot be overlooked. Certainly, differences in

the mix of microflora could account for why one identical twin may develop

celiac disease while the other does not. Could the mix of commensal bacteria in

newborn infants set the stage for the development of celiac disease? Could the

onset of celiac disease be triggered by an event such as illness, use of

antibiotics, stress, or pregnancy which alters the mix of microflora opening the

door to a pathogenic interaction with gluten? One recent study has already found

an association between antibiotic use and the development of Crohn’s disease25.

....