A recent article in the Journal of the American Medical Association presented an overview of the risk of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (“mad cow disease”) to humans. Of particular interest was a discussion of a possible “infectivity threshold.”¹ Oxidative stress—the relative imbalance of free radicals to antioxidants–may be a factor influencing the infectivity threshold of individuals and the subsequent progression of spongiform encephalopathies.

Many diseases, including schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases, are strongly influenced by and may even be caused by oxidative stress. Oxidative stress can aggravate diseases through free radical damage to cell structures and processes, e.g., membranes and mitochondrial bioenergetics, and through alterations in cellular communication and DNA expression.

Two small and noteworthy—but generally overlooked—cell-culture experiments have explored the role of free radicals and antioxidants in prion diseases. In one, prion-stimulated microglia released large numbers of free radicals, which killed neurons through oxidative damage. Vitamin E and N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) blocked prioninitiated neurotoxicity.² In another experiment, NAC reduced oxidative stress by 50 percent in astroglial cells exposed to human prion proteins.³ The protective role of vitamin E and NAC is further supported by studies that have found these nutrients to have antiviral and immune-enhancing properties.^4,5

Although the human variants of spongiform encephalopathies, such as Creutzfeldt-Jakob, appear to be irreversible, it is conceivable that their progression may be accelerated by oxidative stress. It is also possible that high levels of antioxidants might slow the progression of spongiform encephalopathies, just as vitamin E slows the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. This is an area that warrants further research and clinical application. There is little to lose since Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is rapidly terminal.

Jack Challem The Nutrition Reporter® newsletter PO Box 5505, Aloha, Oregon 97006

References

1. Brown P: The risk of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (‘mad cow disease’) to human health. JAMA, 1997; 278: 1008-1011.

2. Brown DR, Schmidt B et al: Role of microglia and host prion protein in neurotoxicity of a prion protein fragment. Nature, 1996; 380: 345-347.

1. Rizzardini M, Chiesa R, Angeretti N et al: Prion protein fragment 106-126 differentially induces heme oxygenase-1 mRNA in cultured neurons and astroglial cells. J Neurochem, 1997; 68: 715-

2. 720.
3. Hayek MG, Taylor SF, Bender BS et al: Vitamin E supplementation decreases lung virus titers in mice infected with influenza. J Infect Dis, 1997; 176: 273-276.

4. Herzenberg LA, De Rosa SC, Dubs JG et al: Glutahione deficiency is associated with impaired survival in HIV disease. Proc Natl Acad Sci, USA, 1997; 94: 1967-1972.

To all JOM Readers: Are you Interested in contributing to an Orthomolecular Medical Resource Directory?

I am in the process of assembling an Orthomolecular Medical Resource Directory of orthomolecular books and resources to help patients and healthcare professionals share information about nontoxic methods to treat problems such as depression and schizophrenia.

If you can share a book title with a few points about why its contents were helpful, I will consider it for the OMRD. If you are a healthcare professional who has written books or papers about orthomolecular methods, I can include your name on the list. If you are a healthcare professional who is willing to discuss orthomolecular methods with a patient or their healthcare professional, your name and number can be listed as a resource professional.

There is no cost for a listing in the directory and no obligation. If you are a healthcare professional, patients may use the list to contact you for orthomolecular information and assistance with treatment according to methods you feel are appropriate.

Why not take a few minutes to share book titles about orthomolecular information that helped you? If your physician used orthomolecular information to help you, you can ask him or her if they would agree to their name being listed. If we cooperate, we can encourage people to learn how orthomolecular medical methods can be low-cost, nontoxic, and bioIogical ways to restore normal brain and body function without adverse effects.

Publication of the first OMRD is targeted for early 1998. Please send your submissions to:

Mr. R. Sealey, BSC, CA OMRD Project 291 Princess Ave., North York, ON M2N 3S3