Health Foodborne toxin could trigger MS, studies suggest Jan. 28, 2014 at 3:16 PM ET 
 
 CDC / CDC 
 
 Add another clue to the mystery of multiple sclerosis: Scientists say a poison produced by common foodborne germs could be a trigger for the debilitating autoimmune disorder that affects 400,000 Americans. 
 
 Researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York have discovered that a toxin made by the bacterium Clostridium perfringens — responsible for a million cases of food poisoning in the U.S. each year — appears to attack the cells associated with MS. 
 
 “What we’ve shown is the toxins target the cells that are targeted in MS,” said Jennifer Linden, a Weill Cornell researcher who’s presenting findings Tuesday at a meeting of the American Society for Microbiology. 
 
 Her research also showed that about 13 percent of a small sample of food products harbored C. perfringens bacteria, and nearly 3 percent were positive for the toxin linked to MS. 
 
 It’s too early to suggest that MS is caused by food poisoning, but it does raise the possibility that the C. perfringens bacteria could be involved in activating the disease, said Bruce F. Bebo, associate vice president of discovery research for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. 
 
 “To me, if you were going to design a trigger for this disease, this would really fit the mold really well,” Bebo said. 
 
 Specifically, it’s the epsilon toxin, one of 12 protein toxins produced by C. perfringens bacteria. Not only does the toxin attack the brain’s blood-brain barrier, it also kills the brain’s myelin-producing cells, the same cells that die in MS lesions, Linden said. 
 
 MS is a disease in which the fatty sheath around the nerves of the brain and spinal cord, called myelin, is destroyed, leading to a wide range of symptoms. 
 
 MS is thought to be caused by an environmental trigger, something scientists have sought for years, Bebo said. But the new theory from Weill Cornell’s team led by Dr. Timothy Vartanian, a professor of neurology and neuroscience, is particularly promising, Bebo said. 
 
 Most cases of C. perfringens food poisoning in people are caused by the A strain of the bacteria, one of five types. The B and D types, which produce the epsilon toxin, have rarely been seen in people. But last year, Weill Cornell researchers reported that they’d discovered the B strain in a 21-year-old MS patient, proving infection was possible. 
 
 They also examined banked blood and spinal fluid samples from MS patients and healthy controls and found that the MS patients were 10 times more likely to show evidence of antibodies signaling they’d previously been exposed to the epsilon toxin. 
 
 If the link with MS is proven, it’s possible that a vaccine or drug or probiotic treatment could be developed to destroy the C. perfringens B and D bacteria, which make the toxin, Vartanian has said. ||||| New research presented at a scientific meeting adds to a growing body of evidence that a toxin produced by a common food bug may trigger multiple sclerosis, an inflammatory disease of the central nervous system. 
 
 Dr. Jennifer Linden, a microbiologist at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York, presented the research at the 2014 ASM Biodefense and Emerging Diseases Research Meeting that is taking place in Washington, D.C., this week. 
 
 Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory disease, where the body's own immune system attacks and destroys healthy tissue in the central nervous system. The disease gradually disrupts the blood brain barrier (BBB) and destroys myelin, the protein that insulates the nerves in the spinal cord, brain and optic nerve and stops the electrical signals they convey from leaking out. 
 
 As the disease progresses, patients experience symptoms ranging from mild numbness in the arms and legs to paralysis and blindness. 
 
 According to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, MS affects around 400,000 Americans, and with the exception of trauma, it is thought to be the most frequent cause of neurological disability that starts before old age. 
 
 Epsilon toxin may be a trigger for MS 
 
 MS is thought to result when genetically susceptible individuals are exposed to one or more environmental triggers. But while we have not yet firmly identified the triggers, there is increasing evidence, like this latest research, that a toxin called epsilon produced by certain strains of food bacteria is one of them, as Dr. Linden explains: 
 
 "We provide evidence that supports epsilon toxin's ability to cause BBB permeability and show that epsilon toxin kills the brain's myelin producing cells, oligodendrocytes; the same cells that die in MS lesions." 
 
 She and her colleagues also found that epsilon toxin targets other types of cells associated with MS inflammation, found in other parts of the central nervous system. 
 
 "Epsilon toxin may be responsible for triggering MS," concludes Dr. Linden. 
 
 Epsilon toxin produced by certain strains of food bug C. perfringens 
 
 Epsilon toxin is produced by certain strains of Clostridium perfringens, a bacterium that commonly causes foodborne illness in the United States. 
 
 According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), strains of C. perfringens that do not produce epsilon toxin cause nearly a million cases of foodborne illness each year. 
 
 C. perfringens is found in soil and contaminated undercooked meats, and previous studies have suggested the bacterium, and epsilon toxin, may play a role in triggering MS. 
 
 For instance, in October 2013, Dr. Linden and colleagues reported in the journal PLOS ONE that the soil bacterium might be a trigger for MS when they found C. perfringens type B - a strain that produces epsilon toxin - in a 21-year-old patient suffering from MS. 
 
 They further tested their hypothesis by studying the toxin in mice, to see which particular cells it targeted. They found that it targeted not only brain cells, but also cells in other parts of the central nervous system, producing effects only seen in MS patients, as Dr. Linden explains: 
 
 "Originally, we only thought that epsilon toxin would target the brain endothelium cells and oligodendrocytes; we just happened to notice that it also bound to and killed meningeal cells. This was exciting because it provides a possible explanation for meningeal inflammation and subpial cortical lesions exclusively observed in MS patients, but not fully understood." 
 
 When they tested 37 local food samples, the researchers found 13.5% of them contained C. perfringens and 2.7% contained the epsilon toxin gene. 
 
 If further studies confirm these findings, Dr. Linden says it suggests a vaccine that neutralizes the ability of epsilon toxin to trigger MS could stop the disease progressing, or perhaps even prevent it. ||||| Image copyright SPL Image caption Some strains of clostridium secrete toxins 
 
 A food poisoning bacterium may be implicated in MS, say US researchers. 
 
 Lab tests in mice by the team from Weill Cornell Medical College revealed a toxin made by a rare strain of Clostridium perfringens caused MS-like damage in the brain. 
 
 And earlier work by the same team, published in PLoS ONE, identified the toxin-producing strain of C. perfringens in a young woman with MS. 
 
 But experts urge caution, saying more work is needed to explore the link. 
 
 Discovering potential causes or triggers for MS could enable us to develop better treatments or even, one day, prevent the condition Dr Susan Kohlhaas , Head of Biomedical Research at the MS Society 
 
 No-one knows the exact cause of Multiple sclerosis (MS), but it is likely that a mixture of genetic and environmental factors play a role. It's a neurological condition which affects around 100,000 people in the UK. 
 
 Bacteria 
 
 C. perfringens, found in soil and contaminated undercooked meat, comes in different strains. 
 
 Most cases of human infection occur as food poisoning - diarrhoea and stomach cramps that usually resolve within a day or so. More rarely, the bacterium can cause gas gangrene. 
 
 And a particular strain of C. perfringens, Type B, which the Weill team says it identified in a human for the first time, makes a toxin that can travel through blood to the brain. 
 
 In their lab studies on rodents the researchers found that the toxin, called epsilon, crossed the blood-brain barrier and killed myelin-producing cells - the typical damage seen in MS. 
 
 Lead investigator Jennifer Linden said the findings are important because if it can be confirmed that epsilon toxin is a trigger of MS, a vaccine or antibody against the toxin might be able to halt or prevent this debilitating disease. 
 
 She presented the group's latest findings at a meeting of the American Society for Microbiology. 
 
 Dr Susan Kohlhaas, Head of Biomedical Research at the MS Society, said: "Discovering potential causes or triggers for MS could enable us to develop better treatments or even, one day, prevent the condition. This is interesting research but the findings now need to be validated in larger studies to establish if this toxin really is a potential trigger for MS."
– Scientists still don't know what causes multiple sclerosis, but new research suggests that a particular strain of food poisoning may play a role, reports the BBC. The food bacterium in question is called Clostridium perfringens, which NBC News notes is responsible for millions of cases of foodborne illnesses per year, often through undercooked meat. A rare strain of it produces a toxin called epsilon, and the researches found that this toxin attacks the brain in the same way that MS does. “To me, if you were going to design a trigger for this disease, this would really fit the mold really well,” says a researcher at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York. He adds that it's far too early to conclude that the toxin causes MS, only that it appears to activate it. If further study backs up the finding, it could theoretically lead to a vaccine that prevents MS, says another of the Weill Cornell researchers quoted in Medical News Today.