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. 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. 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. 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. 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 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. 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.
– 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.