Inflammation's infamy

The body's first line of defense just may be the 'root of all evil' | By Karen Kreeger

IMMUNITY IN MIND: Cultured microglial (N9) cells (red) on a tissue section containing an Alzheimer plaque (green). There is continuing controversy about whether these types of inflammatory cells are responding to plaques or causing them.

A finger catches the sharp edge of an envelope; a noseful of tree pollen is accidentally inhaled; the latest virus finds host after human host. In all cases the assaulted body reacts through inflammation, a well known, but not well defined process, especially its molecular cascade of events. These events are orchestrated by chemokines and the other biochemicals of innate immunity, eventually engaging downstream immune cells and antigens involved with adaptive immunity. A person is born with an innate immune system, whereas acquired immunity is developed through lifelong contact with pathogens.

Usually, inflamed tissue heals quickly, end of story. But when things go awry, the downstream immunological events, both innate and acquired, can lead to several disparate diseases. "I personally believe that chronic inflammation is the root of all evil," says Emad El-Omar, professor of gastroenterology, University of Aberdeen, UK, who works on host genetic factors associated with gastritis, a condition tied to Helicobacter pylori-related inflammation. Over the past 10 years, inflammation has been implicated as both cause and aggravating effect in a growing number of widespread, often unrelated ailments, including atherosclerosis, Alzheimer disease (AD), and some cancers.

The cancer connection: Some evidence suggests a link between inflammation and angiogenesis. Other studies link cancer to the enzyme cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), which is involved in inflammation. In Alzheimer disease, an important risk factor, apolipoprotein E4 (apoE4) is expressed in cells that are part of an inflammatory response to nervous system injury. In such complex diseases, it's difficult to point to inflammation as cause or symptom, but the link remains.

As examples mount, Keith Crutcher, professor of neurosurgery at the University of Cincinnati, notes, "It doesn't take a brain scientist to say maybe there's something going on here." In many cases, infection plays a role, but the real problem starts with the development of chronic inflammation. Just how chronic inflammation becomes unremitting is still unknown.

Even the definition of inflammation is a problem, says pathology professor Robert M. Strieter, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles. Different pathways connect the initial inflammatory response with adaptive immunity, making it impossible to formulate a single definition. "Many people look at inflammation and think it's all the same, but in many ways it's not .... It is how it begins to go from a nonspecific to a more polarized, specific inflammatory response that ultimately leads to the development of adaptive immunity."

A BATTLE AGAINST SELF The reason for inflammation's infamy: It shares an intimate relationship with the outside world. "The innate immune system--aside from ... the skin and epithelial barriers that would otherwise interact with the environment--is your first line of defense," explains Randall S. Johnson, associate professor of biological sciences, UC-San Diego. Because it is the first and most aggressive defender, he says, innate immunity can be described as being "on a hair trigger."

Centuries ago, this trigger was pulled on a more consistent basis as humans battled a harsher environment; Johnson attributes today's toll of inflammation on the super clean environments of Western society. Also, because humans are living longer than evolutionarily designed, and in larger numbers, says Johnson, the odds are increased for disease. "You have an immune system that's looking for something to do and is basically getting into trouble," he says. "I think the problems are caused by an ongoing, aggravated, chronic response to an immune problem that the innate system imagines is there, but isn't." Also, the various byproducts associated with immune system attack, such as reactive oxygen species that decimate joints, may be causing long-term, deleterious effects.

For the rest of the article go here: http://www.the-scientist.com/yr2003/jul/research1_030714.html

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STOP BY AND BUMP THE FUNDRAISER THREAD-
It is in the breaking news sidebar!

It just so happens that a fellow Freeper (me!) has written the world's best book on inflammation (along with my father, an M.D.) and how it creates strokes, heart attacks and the symptoms of Alzheimer's.

It's called "The Heart Attack Germ" and it's available at www.amazon.com and www.bn.com.

Check out my website www.TheHeartAttackGerm.com for a good introduction on the subject, complete with animated sequences that explain several topics.

Here's a list of Chapter titles that pretty much sums up what the book is about:

Part I 1. The Heart Attack Germ
2. The Chlamydia Story
3. A Refresher Course in Strokes and Heart Attacks
4. The Response to Injury
5. Chronic Inflammation
6. Inflammatory Atherosclerosis
7. Vulnerable Plaque and Blood Clots
8. The Triggers of Strokes and Heart Attacks
9. Risk Factors - Old and New
10. Bugs in the System: The Links Between Infection, Inflammation and Cardiovascular Disease
11. The Germs of Strokes and Heart Attacks
12. The Arguments for Chlamydia Pneumoniae as a Cause of Strokes and Heart Attacks
13. Antibiotics and the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease
14. Cardiovascular Germs and the Symptoms of Alzheimer's Disease

Part II
1. A Philosophy of Healing
2. The Five Steps of WIN/WIN Therapy (Whip Infection/Weaken Inflammation)
3. An Added Advantage of WIN/WIN Therapy
4. The Future of WIN/WIN Therapy and the Heart Attack Germ
5. The Heart Attack Germ on the web at www.TheHeartAttackGerm.com

If you -- or someone you love -- suffers from cardiovascular disease, I'd really advise you to get this book. You won't know what's making you sick until you read it!

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