The Autoimmune Epidemic: Bodies Gone Haywire in a World Out of Balance--and the Cutting-Edge Science that Promises Hope (No Series) (41 page)

Other evidence links the measles:
Shoenfeld Y, Aron-Maor A. Vaccination and autoimmunity-“vaccinosis”: A dangerous liaison? J Autoimmun 2000 Feb;14(1):1–10.

Many scientists also believe strong anecdotal evidence:
Alter M. Is multiple sclerosis an age-dependent host response to measles? Neurol Neurocir Psiquiatr 1977;18(2–3 Suppl):341–55. Shoenfeld Y, Aron-Maor A. Vaccination and autoimmunity-“vaccinosis”: A dangerous liaison? J Autoimmun 2000 Feb;14(1):1–10.

Like Epstein-Barr, however, the Hib vaccine:
Classen JB, Classen DC. Clustering of cases of insulin dependent diabetes (IDDM) occurring three years after hemophilus influenza B (Hib) immunization support causal relationship between immunization and IDDM. Autoimmunity 2002 Jul;35(4):247–53.

reports have emerged linking the new human papillomavirus:
http://www.nvic.org/PressReleases/PR081507HPV.htm (accessed September 5, 2007).

Yet as researchers begin to delve more into this troubling correlation:
Regner M, Lambert PH. Autoimmunity through infection or immunization? Nat Immunol 2001 Mar;2(3):185–8.

particularly concerned about mercury:
Pollard KM et al. Xenobiotic acceleration of idiopathic systemic autoimmunity in lupus-prone bxsb mice. Environ Health Perspect 2001 Jan;109(1):27–33. Pollard KM et al. Murine susceptibility to mercury. I. Autoantibody profiles and systemic immune deposits in inbred, congenic, and intra-H-2 recombinant strains. Clin Immunol Immunopathol 1992 Nov;65(2):98–109. Hultman P, Hansson-Georgiadis H. Methyl mercury–induced autoimmunity in mice. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol 1999 Feb 1;154(3):203–11. Silbergeld EK et al. Mercury and autoimmunity: Implications for occupational and environmental health. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol 2005 Sep 1;207(2 Suppl):282–92.

Since the advent of the industrial age:
“The Madison Declaration on Mercury Pollution,” a report from the Eighth International Conference on Mercury as a Global Pollutant, summarizes the scientific conclusions presented by four expert panels at the Eighth International Conference on Mercury as a Global Pollutant, on August 6–11, 2006. The 1,150 registered participants in this conference constituted a diverse, multinational body of scientific and technical expertise on environmental mercury pollution. This declaration conveys the panels’ principal findings and their consensus conclusions on policy-relevant questions concerning atmospheric sources of mercury, methylmercury exposure, and its effects on humans and wildlife. Available from http://www.allenpress.com/pdf/i0044-7447-036-01-0062.pdf (accessed May 23, 2007). Wright K. Our preferred poison: A little mercury is all that humans need to do away with themselves quietly, slowly, and surely. Discover 2005 Mar;26(3). See http://discovermagazine.com/2005/mar/our-preferred-poison (accessed July 18, 2007).

Dry particles of mercury travel:
Harris R. Studies find high mercury levels in the wild. Morning Edition, National Public Radio, broadcast 2005 Mar 8.

Today, the National Library of Medicine’s
TOXMAP
:
http://toxmap.nlm.nih.gov/toxmap/main/index.jsp enter “mercury” or “mercury compounds” (accessed July 18, 2007).

in 2004, a study conducted jointly by the Environmental Quality Institute:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A49896-2004Oct20.html (accessed May 23, 2007).

Meanwhile, a 2007 New York City Health:
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-07/nych-oif072207.php (accessed September 7, 2007).

researchers know that mercury can cross the placenta:
Eilperin J. Women in coastal areas are found to have higher mercury levels. Washington Post, 2005 Sep 23;A3.

a newborn’s mercury level:
Lee J. E.P.A. raises estimate of babies affected by mercury exposure. New York Times, 2004 Feb 10. Available from http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9B07E3DA173AF933A25751C0A9629C8B63 (accessed May 23, 2007).

Recently, researchers found that low levels of mercury:
Li Z et al. Chemically diverse toxicants converge on Fyn and c-Cbl to disrupt precursor cell function. PLoS Biol 2007 Feb;5(2):e35.

Panel members complained that the report:
Parker-Pope T. Metal mouth: Do you need to worry about the mercury in dental fillings? Wall Street Journal, 2006 Sep 12, D1.

Meanwhile, in the field of autoimmune-disease research:
Casciola-Rosen L et al. Scleroderma autoantigens are uniquely fragmented by metal-catalyzed oxidation reactions: Implications for pathogenesis. J Exp Med 1997 Jan 6;185(1):71–9.

other research relating having a high number of dental fillings:
Thompson AE, Pope JE. Increased prevalence of scleroderma in southwestern Ontario: A cluster analysis. J Rheumatol 2002 Sep;29(9):1867–73.

One recent case-control study:
Arnett FC et al. Urinary mercury levels in patients with autoantibodies to U3-RNP (fibrillarin). J Rheumatol 2000 Feb;27(2):405–10.

some of that methyl mercury is converted:
Wright K. Our preferred poison: A little mercury is all that humans need to do away with themselves quietly, slowly, and surely. Discover 2005 Mar;26(3):1. See http://discovermagazine.com/2005/mar/our-preferred-poison (accessed July 18, 2007).

Inorganic mercury is the major form of mercury:
Hultman P et al. Xenobiotic acceleration of idiopathic systemic autoimmunity in lupus-prone bxsb mice. Environ Health Perspect 2001 Jan;109(1):27–33. Pollard KM et al. Murine susceptibility to mercury. I. Autoantibody profiles and systemic immune deposits in inbred, congenic, and intra-H-2 recombinant strains. Clin Immunol Immunopathol 1992 Nov;65(2):98–109. Hultman P, Hansson-Georgiadis H. Methyl mercury–induced autoimmunity in mice. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol 1999 Feb 1;154(3):203–11.

Even low-dose mercury exposure:
Silbergeld EK et al. Mercury and autoimmunity: Implications for occupational and environmental health. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol 2005 Sep 1;207(2 Suppl):282–92.

Pollard and his colleagues concluded:
Pollard KM et al. Xenobiotic acceleration of idiopathic systemic autoimmunity in lupus-prone bxsb mice. Environ Health Perspect 2001 Jan;109(1):27–33.

And then there is that one lucky mouse:
Interviews with both Kenneth Michael Pollard, associate professor in The Department of Molecular and Experimental Medicine at the Scripps Research Institute, and Dwight Kono, associate professor in the Department of Immunology at the Scripps Research Institute, explain that one of the most important lessons to come from studying mercury-induced autoimmunity in the mouse has been the identification of an area in the mouse genome that allows certain mice to resist developing autoimmunity despite environmental exposures. As Pollard explained to me in an e-mail correspondence in March 2007, “Important clues to preventing environmental exposures from leading to autoimmune disease lie in identifying the gene or genes responsible for making mice resistant to the development of disease. If we can uncover the mechanisms involved in resistance then we may be able to develop appropriate interventions to treat human disease.” For more on this see Kono DH, Theofilopoulos AN. Genetics of SLE in mice. Springer Semin Immunopathol 2006 Oct;28(2):83–96. Epub 2006 Sep 14.

This was at a time when new thimerosal-containing vaccines:
Rock A. The tipping point. Mother Jones 2004 Mar–Apr;29(2):70.

Researchers believe that the genetic background:
Goth SR et al. Uncoupling of ATP-mediated calcium signaling and dysregulated interleukin-6 secretion in dendritic cells by nanomolar thimerosal. Environ Health Perspect 2006 Jul;114(7):1083–91.

Their findings, published in 2006, indicate that thimerosal does induce:
Havarinasab S, Hultman P. Alteration of the spontaneous systemic autoimmune disease in (NZB x NZW)F1 mice by treatment with thimerosal (ethyl mercury). Toxicol Appl Pharmacol 2006 Jul 1;214(1):43–54. Epub 2006 Jan 27.

Another recent study caused a stir within the scientific community:
Wallis C. Inside the autistic mind. Time, 2006 May 15;45.

Even so, if there is an interplay with mercury:
Mundell EJ. Major gene study points to causes of autism. Health Day News. 2007 Feb 18;A3.

The working hypothesis is that these antibodies:
Wallis C. Inside the autistic mind. Time, 2006 May 15;46–7.

A number of scientists are now investigating:
Pardo CA et al. Immunity, neuroglia and neuroinflammation in autism. Int Rev Psychiatry 2005 Dec;17(6):485–95.

More than half of Americans test positive:
Arbes SJ Jr. et al. Prevalences of positive skin test responses to 10 common allergens in the US population: Results from the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. J Allergy Clin Immunol 2005 Aug;116(2):377–83.

Twenty million Americans now suffer from asthma:
http://www.asthmainamerica.com/children_index.html (accessed May 23, 2007).

The number of people suffering from asthma:
Arbes SJ Jr. et al. Prevalences of positive skin test responses to 10 common allergens in the US population. Results from the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. J Allergy Clin Immunol 2005 Aug;116(2):377–83.

The theory is that having younger siblings:
Ponsonby AL et al. Exposure to infant siblings during early life and risk of multiple sclerosis. JAMA 2005 Jan 26;293(4):463–9.

By contrast, someone who is experiencing a true trauma:
Lesher A et al. Increased IL-4 production and attenuated proliferative and pro-inflammatory responses of splenocytes from wild-caught rats (
Rattus norvegicus
). Immunol Cell Biol 2006 Aug;84(4):374–82. Epub 2006 Apr 3.

The innate immune response:
Fairweather D et al. Viruses as adjuvants for autoimmunity: Evidence from coxsackievirus-induced myocarditis. Rev Med Virol 2005 Jan–Feb;15(1):17–27. Fairweather D et al. Cutting edge: T cell Ig mucin-3 reduces inflammatory heart disease by increasing CTLA-4 during innate immunity. J Immunol 2006 Jun 1;176(11):6411–15. Frisancho-Kiss S et al. Cutting edge: Cross-regulation by TLR4 and T cell Ig mucin-3 determines sex differences in inflammatory heart disease. J Immunol 2007, in press.

The immune system must now decide whether:
Coxsackievirus B3 was named after Coxsackie, New York, where the virus was first isolated from a patient.

The way in which mast cells:
Fairweather D, Rose NR. Women and autoimmune diseases. Emerg Infect Dis 2004 Nov;10(11):2005–11.

All gas, no brakes:
To bring home how different hits can combine to overwhelm the immune system, we might look to Ellen Silbergeld’s work in several communities in Amazonian Brazil. Silbergeld charted three communities where they had differing levels of mercury exposure (some from gold mining, some from high fish consumption) coupled with malaria exposure. Her findings suggested that mercury exposure can alter immune function and increase circulating levels of autoantibodies. A significantly higher number of subjects with detectable autoantibodies had hair mercury levels greater than the norm. In a fascinating finding, those with higher hair mercury levels who also reported malaria infection were more likely to have detectable concentrations of autoantibodies as compared to those with low mercury levels. In other words, high mercury exposure and malaria exposure together meant more likelihood of autoimmune disease. For more on this see Silva IA et al. Mercury exposure, malaria, and serum antinuclear/antinucleolar antibodies in Amazon populations in Brazil: A cross-sectional study. Environ Health 2004 Nov 2;3(1):11.

We already know that some environmental triggers:
Criswell LA et al. Smoking interacts with genetic risk factors in the development of rheumatoid arthritis among older Caucasian women. Ann Rheum Dis 2006 Sep;65(9):1163–7. Epub 2006 Aug 3.

CHAPTER FIVE: THE AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE DETECTIVES

over the next ten years:
McCune AB et al. Maternal and fetal outcome in neonatal lupus erythematosus. Ann Intern Med 1987 Apr;106(4):518–23.

In 2003, they published a landmark study:
Scofield RH. Autoantibodies as predictors of disease. Lancet 2004 May 8;363(9420): 1544–6.

Typically, one or two autoantibodies:
Ibid.

About half the patients had autoantibodies:
O’Connor A. On the trail of diseases, years before they strike. New York Times, 2004 May 11;F5. Nielen MM et al. Specific autoantibodies precede the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis: A study of serial measurements in blood donors. Arthritis Rheum 2004 Feb;50(2):380–6.

the largest surveillance effort on diabetes:
SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth Study Group. The burden of diabetes mellitus among US youth: Prevalence estimates from the SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth Study, American Academy of Pediatrics. Pediatrics 2006 Oct;118(4): 1510–18.