MYCOPLASMAS
Could This Tiny Microorganism Be Causing Your Arthritis?

Health Sciences Institute Members Library of Modern, Underground Medicine

Not only could your arthritis be caused by organisms in your gut, but there is new evidence that bacterial organisms in your blood may be a causal factor. Your doctor probably hasn't heard about the connection between mycoplasmal infections and arthritis, and the research won't be in the journals until next year. But if you are struggling with arthritis, you can benefit from this important discovery today.

Mycoplasmas are tiny microorganisms, even smaller than bacteria. They are commonly found in the saliva and mucous membranes of the mouth or nose, and they were once dismissed as relatively harmless organisms.' However, we now know that mycoplasmas can also penetrate into your blood cells, where they are far from harmless. Your painful joints could be caused by a systemic infection of this tiny microorganism.

The Culprit mycoplasmas

Telltale signs: painful joints, chronic fatigue, muscle aches, intermittent fever, memory loss, headache, gastrointestinal disturbances, blurred vision, sleep disturbances

Risk factors: A history of rheumatoid arthritis, chronic viruses, autoimmune disease

Where to go for help:
PCR-DNA testing is available through the Institute for Molecular Medicine, tel. 1 -714-903-2900, or through your physician's prescription at the Immunosciences Laboratory, tel. 1 -800-950-4686.

Researchers have made the surprising discovery that mycoplasmal infections occur in approximately half of the patients with certain chronic diseases-including arthritis, chronic fatigue syndrome, AIDS, fibromyalgia, and the mysterious syndrome known as "Gulf War Illness."

What does the Gulf War have to do with arthritis?

Arthritis wasn't what Dr. Garth Nicolson and his wife Nancy had in mind when they began searching for unknown infectious agents in blood and tissue samples. Their daughter had returned home from the Gulf War too sick to continue her career. Her medical tests were normal, but her health continued to deteriorate

Fortunately for their daughter, the Nicolsons are both molecular pathologists, with a research laboratory at their disposal. They discovered that their daughter had an active infection with a specific mycoplasma called Mycoplasmaftrmentans, identified through a sophisticated blood test that they developed. Once the cause was identified and treated, their daughter completely recovered from Gulf War Illness-and she now attends medical school.

Word spread, and the Nicolsons were inundated with veterans suffering from Gulf War Illness who wanted to be tested. They found that 45 percent of those veterans tested positive for mycoplasmas. When the problem was diagnosed, treatment with antibiotics improved symptoms in nearly all cases. I Emerging Infectious Diseases, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 21-32, 1997

Overcoming Arthritis

Interestingly, the No. I complaint of veterans suffering from Gulf War Illness is painful joInts, experienced in nearly 90 percent of the cases.' Dr. Nicolson has concluded that the synovial cells of the joints are among the targets for mycoplasmal infection.

Lacking a cell wall, a mycoplasma can actually invade the synovial cells of your oints. Once inside the cell, it uses the cell's nutrients and energy to reproduce. This infection causes the cells of your immune system to release immune chemicals called cytokines. In fact, the "arthritis" symptoms you experience, such as inflammation and pain, may be due to the overproduction of cytokines. If you have mycoplasma, your joints may actually be damaged by the infection process

Do you have the symptoms of mycoplasmal infection?

• Chronic fatigue
• muscle aches
• intermittent fever
• memory loss
• headache
• thyroid dysfunction.
• gastrointestinal disturbances
• breathing problems
• eye pain or blurred vision
• heart problems

Mycoplasma may also be a previously unidentified risk factor for autolmmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis. This is because a mycoplasma grabs a piece of the cell membrane when it escapes from the human cell. The body attacks the mycoplasma, but it may also develop an immune response to its own tissues carried on the mycoplasmal surface. The fact that mycoplasmas are associated with so many chronic diseases makes diagnosis challenging; a newly developed blood test is the only way to know for sure.

Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, vol. 38. no. 1, 1996 G. and N. Nicolson. Written testimony at the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight, Subcommittee on Human Resource and Intergov ernmental Relations, United States House of Representatives, June 26, 1997

How to get tested

Although it's relatively simple to test for mycoplasmas on mucosal surfaces like the mouth, once they get inside of cells, conventional antibody tests are usually useless, and they are extremely difficult to culture. Prior to research by the Nicolsons, there was no effective blood test for mycoplasmas

The specialized test developed by the Nicolsons, called a forensic PCR-DNA, is able to detect fragments of mycoplasmas inside the white blood cells. The white blood cells scavenge those pieces as they clean up debris in the tissues and blood. If the DNA of a mycoplasma is found in your white blood cells, an active infection exists.

Dr. Nicolson now runs his own nonprofit research laboratory, called the Institute for Molecular Medicine, in Irvine, California. You can have your blood tested at this lab without a doctor's prescription. The institute will send you a consent form that you can bring with you to a local lab for the blood ~raw. The test is called the "PCR-DNA General Screen for Mycoplasma Species," and it costs $150 plus whatever your local lab charges to draw and send your blood.

The importance of testing

Recently, several studies found that treatment with antibiotics dramatically improved arthritis symptoms in over half of the test subjects even when no infection was identified. Undetected mycoplasmal infections could be part of the explanation for these mysterious findings. Ideally, all arthritis patients should be screened for mycoplasmal infection.

Testing is also available through Immunosciences Laboratory in Beverly Hills, California. The founder of that facility, Dr. Aristo Vojdam, Ph.D., is another esteemed scientistcurrently involved in researching the arthritis/ mycoplasma connection. Immunosciences Laboratory requires a doctor's prescription for the blood test, but you may be able to get your medical insurance to cover the cost. (See the Members Source Directory on page 44 for contact information.)

What do I do if I have mycoplasmas?

The conventional treatment for mycoplasmal infections is strong antibiotic therapy. Only a few antibiotics are effective against such infections, however. These include doxycycline, ciprofloxacin, azithromycin, minocycline, clarithromycin, and levofloxacin.4 Antibiotics are prescribed until the PCR-DNA test is negative.

While the therapy is effective, the course of treatment can last many months or even a year. If you choose the antibiotic approach, expect a period of die-off symptoms lasting as long as two months. (As the mycoplasmas are killed, toxins flood the body and symptoms become temporarily worse.)

Furthermore, antibiotics kill not only the bad bacteria in the body but also the beneficial flora, leaving you vulnerable to a host of antibiotic-therapy- related problems. For this reason, the use of problotic supplements is strongly recommended.