: Re: Fatigue

[Guest guest]

Hi Marie;

I think that IF you believe the hypothesis about endotoxin being the cause of

chronic fatigue syndrome (as a result of a leaky gut), and IF you believe that

endotoxin build up in the liver causes liver injury, and perhaps even

contributes to PSC, then removing the liver and putting in a new one would be

expected to temporarily relieve the CFS and PSC, but since the leaky gut is

still there, they both might eventually come back again.

As I mentioned, one important line of defense against endotoxin is the bacterial

permeability-increasing protein, and antibodies against this protein are found

in PSC and IBD patients. So one line of defense against endotoxin seems to be

compromised in PSC patients.

Another line of defense against endotoxin are gut secretions of IgA.

Interestingly, patients with IgA deficiency seem to be at higher risk for PSC.

In order to secrete IgA, the gut needs retinoic acid, derived from vitamin A.

Vitamin A deficiencies are common in PSC, and this deficiency might exacerbate

disease progression because inadequate IgA is secreted into the gut.

Vitamin A is also essential for maintaining gut integrity, and so a leaky gut

can develop as a result of vitamin A deficiency.

Intestinal alkaline phosphatase is a protein secreted by the intestines, and

this protein serves as a third important defense against endotoxin. It cleaves

off phosphate groups from endotoxin, and this makes the dephosphorylated

endotoxin less toxic. Recent studies indicate that animals deficient in

intestinal alkaline phosphatase are very prone to development of inflammatory

bowel disease. Recent studies also indicate that intestinal alkaline phosphatase

is a very promising new drug for treatment of ulcerative colitis (I can provide

details of all this if you are interested in learning more). As far as I know,

however, the alkaline phosphatase treatment has not yet been tried in PSC (or

chronic fatigue syndrome).

Bottom line is that I think you would have to treat the 'leaky gut' to prevent

the endotoxin from building up again.

I hope this answers your question.

Best regards,

Dave R.