Lets try and strengthen the mucus barrier

Sorry this short part of one of the patents is worth a read: I bolded the part that caught my attention

Mucous membranes are covered by a microscopically thin glycoprotein rich in sialic acid called the glyco¬ calyx. In the upper gastrointestinal tract (GI) , this microscopically thin layer is the ultimate barrier between the underlying tissue and corrosive digestive juices in the tract. When the layer is damaged, erosion and ulceration of the underlying tissue occurs. If the blood supply to the upper GI is arrested for about 5 minutes, for example, it has been found that all synthetic processes cease, including formation of the glycocalyx, and an ulcer can be seen forming within an hour. This illustrates the dynamic nature of the biological processes in the human body. There are several hundred grams of amino sugar in the various tissue components of the body but the average life of a given molecule is only 3 days or so. There is thus a constant turnover of all molecules in the body, even in tissues such as bone, and a constant supply of substrates for synthesis is therefore required.

"An important and novel feature of the present invention is the discovery that increased demands caused by injury such as food allergen injury can be placed upon cells which might strain their resources, and in this situation, an external supply of amino sugars is benefi- cial. In the gastrointestinal tract (GI) , the rate of synthesis of the glycocalyx had been considered to be adequate in persons afflicted with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) . However, in these persons, as in many situations where there is disease or injury, we have found that the turnover of cells is increased, perhaps as much as threefold. This creates a demand that is beyond what is considered normal. We have found that the rate of incor¬ poration of NAG into the intestinal mucosal tissue of the upper GI tract is three times greater in persons afflicted with gastritis than in those who are not afflicted."
Source:N-acetyl glucosamine as gastroprotective agent: /www.google.ca/patents/WO1993023055A1?cl=en&dq=restoration+of+colonic+mucosa+with+O-glycans&hl=en&sa=X&ei=YmY6UuHwBKbs2gWN9ID4CQ&ved=0CFoQ6AEwBTgo

Interesting about the reduced blood supply....
Maybe it is not a nutritional deficiency, per se.
Maybe it is a distribution deficiency i.e., the blood is not flowing well to the large intestine and thus they are deprived of nutrition.
A bit like a mechanical issue, maybe thats why many women when they get pregnant get it because of changes of body anatomy that reduces ?blood supply to the colon.

All of this really says. We have some sort of unidentifyable bug that needs to be erradicated. I think we are back to what we all talked about a while back. It really makes sense that given all the strains of bugs out there and even of course the ones that are unnamed and have not been identified. If there is one thing that can group us all together as a possibility it would be a pathogen or a bug. I always ask myself how the heck does a person who is less than a year old get this? Once I ask that then it really helps rule out alot of other scenarios. With the bug infected scenario it can in fact apply across the board. The trouble is how to ID someething that can hide or is not found yet by modern techniques. Once again maybe the antibiotics and antifungals help reduce the numbers but not totally erradicate it then re populates..Also of course our meds particularily mesalamines are anti microbial in nature themselves or do we assume that the asprin effect of these substances like my doc puts it is what keeps the imflammation at bay? I have to ask myself..Is it that or the hidden pathogen/bug that he or the rest of the western med community just cant find? Lets face it we live in a world surrounded by bugs and pathogens and can explain why someone so young can get this alike ourselves.

We always have known about resistant bugs and how they can mutate and such. I mean with the infinite possibilities in the microorganism world really how can we not assume this? Or is it that what we cant see, name or find we assume it is a broken immune system? Hence autoimmune disease?

Seriously it makes the most sense..sensibly speeking.

I think this paragraph below from the mucus viscosity gradient you posted sum's things up pretty darn good. Especially when read along with the "Initial Event" paper you posted - same with all of the other papers on the mucosal/bacteria interface.

"Our findings may have important therapeutic implications. Most of the current therapies of IBD concomitantly interfere with the viscosity gradient of the intestinal mucus barrier. Corticosteroids enhance intestinal mucus production in general (glucocorticosteroid effects) but also promote its dehydration (mineralocorticosteroid effects), increasing the thickness and viscosity of the mucus layer and decreasing its permeability for bacteria.21,22 TNF-alpha antibodies are mainly regarded as antiinflammatory, but TNF-alpha antibodies also reduce apoptosis of differentiated epithelial cells.25 The resulting prevalence of differentiated resorptive epithelial cells over immature secretory cells stabilizes the mucus barrier while solidifying it at the mucosal surface, and thus may be partially responsible for the clinical efficiency of this therapy. Similarly, mesalazine not only suppresses mucosal biofilm propagation,26 but also controls the
differentiation of the epithelial cells via the prostaglandin cycle.27 Antibiotics decrease the number of bacterial pathogens that could destroy the mucus barrier and make it penetrable to other bacterial groups. Probiotics stimulate intestinal mucus production and reshape its properties."

Even looking at running - the decrease in blood flow --> the change in mucus --> Runners Colitis

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On a side note: A may be worthwhile to look at birth control again for a bit - Or more specifically Hormones: Turns out birth control (according to this Wikipedia page en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hormonal_contraception ) or most of them, as it states rely more heavily on the hormones causing changes in cervical mucus thickness - hence less penetration by sperm or something I would assume (these aren't my native parts so not sure how they all work). Some do however regulate Ovulation. In any case there's always a bunch of women popping up on here with UC after taking birth control. Maybe they take the type that effects/changes mucus thickness and no one realized that maybe it it could change the mucus in the gut as well. After all it a pill - so goes through the gut first.

In any case I just thought it was interesting and that perhaps by regulating or changing hormones one could have an effect on the thickness/viscosity of the mucus barrier in the intestine. Maybe a good search term to explore - effect of hormones on mucus viscosity/permeability or something. Hormone therapy seems to help some (I think they called it SSRI shot's or sameE or something like that - I forget)

Also take into account #1 flare up cause - Stress!

Stress form extreme exercise
Stress from bad life event
Stress from work
Stress from environment/toxin exposure
Stress from bacterial infection (e-cloi)
and on and on... all these and more cause stress on the body in one way or another and effect our hormones. - which may lead to a breakdown in the mucus barrier or something.

The unidentifiable bug that Twiggs refers to could be a parasites, fungi, virus, bacteria or most likely all of these. A lot of people carry these but they are usually kept in check by our good bacteria, healthy mucus barrier and immune system. Heavy metals are food for parasites and bacteria. Are children exposed to more heavy metals these days through pesticides, vaccines, water, food, via the mother etc than years ago? Probably and this may have a more serious effect on the immune system of a developing child than an adult. So a child with such a burden may have a weakened immune system. Couple this with over use of antibiotics and suddenly the “bug” has a chance to flourish. Parasites harbour bacteria and viruses and once established would likely damage the mucus barrier. Damaged mucus barrier and you have leaky gut, allergies, immune response, inflammation etc.

Adults with an already established immune system may take longer to feel the effect of heavy metal overload and all the other environmental impacts until it reaches a point where it’s just too much and the immune system (friendly bacteria) cannot keep the “bugs” in check. There may also be a trigger like an infection or antibiotic use or stress.  Once the bug gets the upper hand they get out of control.

The role of biofilms in protecting these bugs might be a reason they are not identified in blood/stool tests. In any case I don’t know how accurate the tests are for identifying these bugs. Your regular labs probably don’t have the ability to test accurately.  Biofilms may be a reason why antibiotics only work for a period of time until the bug; protected by the biofilm; becomes active again.

So you get rid of the biofilms, kill the unidentifiable bugs, repopulate the gut with good bacteria, and heal the mucus barrier, leaky gut goes away. Simple…..OM let us know when you figure out how we do this J

Sorry Ebar,I am just as lost/dazed and confused as everyone else.

Mark: I wonder what is up with the probiotics, the fresh pickles almost did me in,
toooo many live bacteria.
OM

Also perhaps they are OK - up until a certain point or amount - Call it "the tipping point." To many or to much and perhaps they, or the immune response, inflammation they impart effect the mucus layer properties.

Something else in regard to Restisant Starch etc.

Colonic mucus: secretion and turnover in relation to dietary fibre intake. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12756974

"Analysis of the diets suggested a necessity for both soluble and insoluble fibre types in the diet to increase mucosal protection."

Colonic mucin: methods of measuring mucus thickness. "and evidence that fibre deficiency results in colonic mucosal fragility is presented." www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12756973

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This could totally also be a double edged sword though - to much of one type or a variety of other factors could be bad in regards to fiber and or fiber and other food additive combos- see the thread about Fiber 1 bars on the forum

Again if there's already a thin mucus layer for some reason things could spiral out of control due to surface contact with the proteins and/or an abrupt change in bacteria composition via the fiber fermenting which then eats away at the mucus or causes excess inflammation from the already thin mucus layer and away goes the cascade.

OM, the way my doc put it when your colon is open and in a flare or raw or exposed state that the additional bacteria (lacto fermented pickles) is seen as a invader..Hence the issues you experienced. I experiance the same effect now when I try to take probiotics and even yogurt for that matter but not as severe as the probiotics..

It seems until we get our mucus barrier healed then we have less symptoms with less bacteria?

Post Edited (twiggs) : 9/20/2013 8:15:33 AM (GMT-6)

Canada Mark said...
PS - Breast milk pops up a LOT

Hi Canada Mark

In what context does breast milk pop up a lot?

I come to the same conclusion as OM, that's how I found this forum. I believe the original flare is likely due to antibiotic use (which is why UC is not nearly as prevalent in undeveloped countries, lack of antibiotic availability/use). The original use of antibiotics kills the friendly bacteria that have a symbiotic role living in the mucus, these symbiotic bacteria act as another layer/barrier against bacteria that could harm us. Once the bacteria that should be living in the mucus is killed with antibiotics, the mucus is overwhelmed with bacteria that are not symbiotic, they are able to penetrate the inner mucosal layer, and wham, you have the inflammatory cascade we call UC. The inflammatory cascade damages the goblet cells which make the mucus, which is why the damage to the colon expands, usually starting distally at the sigmoid colon, progressing up stream to the ilium. As the goblet cells are damaged they produce as much mucus as they can in a desperate attempt to protect themselves. That is why we get such an increase of mucus during a flare/expansion.