Brief overview of "Multiple Sclerosis is not a disease of the immune system"

We have had a chance to read through the research by Angelique P Corthals: Multiple Sclerosis is not a disease of the immune system.  We will touch on some key scientific findings from Corthal’s review. We will not cover every aspect of the review, but please feel free to comment or post your position.


The molecular pathophysiology of lipid metabolism is not my area of scientific expertise , however we were able to acquire a basic understanding behind the molecular mechanism of lipid pathways. However we must admit, we felt as if we were going to have an aneurysm due to all the scientific jargon,acronyms and 25 pages of molecular mechanisms. Human molecular pathways are extremely complex, complicated and not as simple as  described by the researcher.  


Corthals suggests MS is a dysfunction of the metabolism of lipids. The lipid metabolism is regulated by peroxisomes that are responsible for breaking down fatty acids to be used by mitochondria for energy production. Central nervous system(CNS) glial cells consumes more lipids than any other tissues of the body Glial  cells depend on peroxisome and mitochondria oxidation of fatty acids for myelin synthesis. Mitochondria is what caught our attention because Dr. Wahl's research and nutritional diet is founded on micro-nutrients and the mitochondria.  


Corthals suggests the dysfunction of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) caused by environmental, diet and/or defective alleles are responsible for high levels of circulating oxidative low density lipoprotein (LDL) in MS  and atherosclerosis.  We think all of those diagnosed with MS have heard the same lecture; environment, diet or genetics are responsible for MS. Thanks for the clue. Anyhow, any disease with high amounts of oxidative stress is highly toxic and does serious damages to cells and tissues.


Recently (2004) , certain statin and PPAR antagonists therapeutics (lipid lowering drugs) were shown to treat specific symptoms.  Corthal noted the lipid profile of patients during infection or inflammation  mirrored the lipid profile of MS patients.  With the cons of statin drugs and detrimental  side effects, we are not convinced of there therapeutic value for treating MS, but this is our position. Are there any of you that have been on a regiment of statin drugs? Have you achieved any improvement of MS symptoms?


The review suggests the impairment of the PPAR regulation in MS patients leads to increased levels of oxidized LDL which has the ability to cross the blood brain barrier and produce a cellular inflammation cascade. In english--> oxidative damage of the CNS.  Is this an ace in the hole? We do not know, but the combination of oxidative LDL and the inflammation cascade might explain the severe damage caused to myelin. And if oxidative LDL and inflammation cascade physiology is 24/7 in your body, it might explain why the myelin of MS patients can never fully repair itself. 


If you do not have a background in biochemistry, the audience will find this article extremely hard to follow, however there are many key take home points through out the article that are easy to understand and grasp. One takeaway message for us was to limit or eliminate diets containing high amounts of animal fat and/or carbohydrates to decrease the amount of circulating oxidative stress.  As a family, we recently (2 weeks) decided to go gluten free, milk free, organic foods when possible($$$), growing our own vegetables and eliminate processed foods. We hope our overview of Multiple Sclerosis is not a disease of the immune system, provided you with some insight.


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Sincerely,


Susie and Doug