Morgellon's disease: What are those Fibers? and where are they coming from?
Some very interesting information on Morgellon's disease:
Dr. Vitaly Citovsky's research group at SUNY Stonybrook did some analysis of the fibers found in Morgellons patients. here are some images from their research: https://www.morgellons.org/SUNY%20Images.htm
CONTRIBUTION OF AGROBACTERIUM TO MORGELLONS DISEASE.
RB Stricker*‾, VR Savely‾, A Zaltsman**, V Citovsky**. *California Pacific
Medical Center, San Francisco, CA; ‾International Lyme & Associated
Diseases Society, Bethesda, MD; **State University of New York, Stony
Brook, NY.
Background: Morgellons disease is characterized by dysesthesias and dermatologic lesions that range from minor to disfiguring (Savely VR, LeitaoMM, Stricker RB. Am J Clin Dermatol 2006;7:1-5). The disease has been reported primarily in Florida, Texas and California. Although an infectious etiology of Morgellons disease has been postulated, treatment of the disease remains problematic, with many patients having inadequate responses to antimicrobial therapy. Skin biopsies of Morgellons patients reveal non-specific pathology or an inflammatory process with no observable pathogens, often with fibrous material projecting from inflamed epidermal tissue. Morgellons skin fibers appear to contain cellulose. This observation indicates possible involvement of pathogenic Agrobacterium, which is known to produce cellulose fibers at infection sites within host tissues.
Methods: Skin biopsy samples from two Morgellons patients were subjected to high-stringency PCR testing for genes encoded by the Agrobacterium chromosome. Screening of the same samples for Agrobacterium virulence (vir) genes and T-DNA sequences in the patient's genome was also performed.
Results: PCR screening indicated the presence of Agrobacterium genes derived both from the chromosome and from the Ti plasmid, including the T-DNA, in tissues from both Morgellons patients.
Conclusions: Our preliminary results indicate that Agrobacterium may be involved in the etiology and/or progression of Morgellons disease. If these results are confirmed, it would be the first example of a plant-infecting bacterium playing a role in human disease.
Further testing is ongoing to validate this observation and to determine whether Agrobacterium not only resides in the infected areas, but also transforms them genetically.
January 14, 2007
Research update from Vitaly Citovsky, Ph.D.
Our continuing screen of additional Morgellons patients has identified Agrobacterium genetic material in three additional individuals. Thus, all Morgellons patients screened to date have tested positive for the presence of Agrobacterium, whereas this microorganism has not been detected in any of the samples derived from the control, healthy individuals.
so.. what is Agrobacterium? Agrobacterium lives in the soil, and is known to cause infections in animals and human beings with compromised immune systems. It can cause skin lesions when injected into Swiss mice, a strain that is immune deficient.
Agrobacterium tumefaciens is a soil phytopathogen that elicits neoplastic growths on the host plant species.
In nature, however, Agrobacterium also may encounter organisms belonging to other kingdoms such as insects and animals that feed on the infected plants. Can Agrobacterium, then, also infect animal cells?
Here, we report that Agrobacterium attaches to and genetically transforms several types of human cells. In stably transformed HeLa cells, the integration event occurred at the right border of the tumor-inducing plasmid's transferred-DNA (T-DNA), suggesting bona fide T-DNA transfer and lending support to the notion that Agrobacterium transforms human cells by a mechanism similar to that which it uses for transformation of plants cells.
Collectively, our results suggest that Agrobacterium can transport its T-DNA to human cells and integrate it into their genome.
I would like to clarify the involvement of my research group in the Morgellons studies.
We are biochemists and cell and molecular biologists who study fundamental and diverse biological processes, such as genetic transformation, intercellular transport, and chromatin remodeling, using plants as experimental systems. Because one of our model organisms, Agrobacterium, is capable of genetically transforming not only plants, but also other eukaryotic species, including human cells, we were contacted by Dr. Stricker and MRF to investigate potential presence of Agrobacterium in biopsies from Morgellons patients.
A limited number of anonymous samples provided by Dr. Stricker were tested by PCR for the presence of different families of Agrobacterium genes. Control reactions included samples from healthy donors provided by us. Only Morgellons, but not healthy subjects tested positive in these studies.
This observation does not imply that Agrobacterium causes Morgellons or that Morgellons is indeed an infectious disease. However, it does encourage future studies to determine (i) statistical significance of our data, (ii) whether or not Agrobacterium is not only present extracellularly, but also causes genetic transformation of the infected tissues, and (iii) whether or not infection of laboratory animals with Agrobacterium can recreate at least some symptoms of Morgellons. These are the immediate goals which may or may not be pursued, depending on the available research funding which is currently non-existent for Morgellons.
Vitaly Citovsky, Ph.D.
Professor of Biochemistry and Cell Biology
and he makes a good point. His research suggests a connection, but in order to establish that one might cause the other, more research needs to be done. unfortunately, the funding is limited.
At least someone is looking into in now! For years absolutely nothing was being done.
A few people have some positive results with www.nutrasilver.com but it takes huge doses and if you stop it surfaces again
__________________ "The nurse should be cheerful, orderly, punctual, patient, full of faith, - receptive to Truth and Love" Mary Baker Eddy
Visit www.HealthSalon.org
ST,
Not much chance of getting government funds to increase research and put the finger on Monsanto,et al, for causing this disease. Scary stuff.
this is true.
but.. even though perhaps people might be getting this from soil, the way I see it is soil has been around as long as humans have been around (longer )
imo, if it was coming from the soil, then we would have seen this disease crop up all throughout history.
However, this is a new disease. GMO is a new product. This is just too much of a coincidence for me.
GMO has become more and more prevalent recently, with corn syrup and soy additives in junk food made from the cheapest sources.
and, even though, it cannot be "proved" that agrobacteria actually is the progenerator of Morgellons, imo, there is enough circumstantial evidence for me not to want GMO on my dinner table.
I do believe in choice.. therefore, I want LABELS so that I can make a choice. To say that people need to know whether orange juice is from concentrate or fresh, but that the people don't need to know whether their food is a result of GMO with foreign genes, especially in light of findings like this, is absolutely ludicrous.
and I think the only reason they get away with it is because the GMO subject is complex and hard for most people to grasp what risks are involved.
I can't really manage to wrap my head around this topic, at the moment. I have a hard enough time sleeping at night as it is.
But, I was bouncng around the CureZone forums tonight and saw that they have a reasonably active Morgellon's forum. I thought you might like to check it out.
I can't really manage to wrap my head around this topic, at the moment.
I have this image of a caterpillar ...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Harry Hirsute
I have a hard enough time sleeping at night as it is.
sorry!
Quote:
But, I was bouncng around the CureZone forums tonight and saw that they have a reasonably active Morgellon's forum. I thought you might like to check it out.
Morgellon's disease: What are those Fibers? and where are they coming from?
)
Linear Mode
