I know that we’re (generally) not scientists here. But before you give this post the heave-ho and move on to another Web page, just give this a chance. The papers each are given a brief summary that really helps you quickly get the main points of each piece of research.

And just to make it even easier to grab onto, I’ll give you my summary of each summary for the top seven.

1. An enzyme involved with cell “signaling” may be linked with autoimmune disorders.
2. Some stem cells may be able to tailor their offspring to fight certain diseases.
3. New role for “memory” cells – they can do more than recall earlier infections that trigger their activity
4. Immune cells residing in the gut may attack certain bacteria first…then back off and call a truce.
5. Certain immune cells that “hunt” for invaders may be able to switch between random scavenging and a directed, planned attack.
6. Making more “killer cells” out of T-cells.
7. Processes for creating a new kind of “helper” cell may hold clues for inflammation that comprises allergic reactions.

These are just seven of scores of papers published each year detailing the complex relationships and communication among various classes of immune cells.  Imagine the health benefit when all of the these cell communities work in balance and proper proportion.

So what about gut bacteria and immune health, amid all this?  This is where inflammation comes in, which we’ve also covered here.  Begley states: “…the precise way in which gut bacteria affect weight is a matter of intense dispute. The idea that different bacteria extract more or fewer calories from the food we send their way, as Gordon’s studies suggest, is only one possibility. Another possible explanation is that gut bacteria contribute to obesity (as well as to type 2 diabetes, which often goes along with being overweight) by altering the immune system. The idea here is that gut bacteria interact with intestinal cells in a way that causes them to secrete cytokines, molecules that can cause low-grade inflammation. This inflammation can, in turn, trigger insulin resistance (the mark of type 2 diabetes) and increased appetite, which is an effective way to put on weight.”

See more on this in Wired and in a drug industry trade. Also, an interesting Q&A in the Wall Street Journal Health Blog has some additional angles.

Maybe this is the core secret on why some people can eat anything they want every day and never gain an ounce.

findings from a laboratory study

The results of this study suggest that EpiCor delivers prebiotic benefits to the human gut. That means EpiCor helps promote the growth of beneficial bacteria in the gut that experts say comprises around 70% of the the body’s immune defense arsenal. Beneficial bacteria do many things in the gut, from countering the populations of harmful bacteria,  influencing obesity and allergies, even communicating with the brain via nerve pathways. The EpiCor gut health observations, combined with earlier research showing its impact on balancing the activity of aggressive and suppressive immune cells, adds yet another layer of evidence to the body of science showing EpiCor’s fascinating role in improved, balanced immune health.

All I know is, it seems to work for me. I may not know exactly why, but I can feel it in my gut.

• One out of 20 people who are allergic to pollen has oral allergy syndrome, which means the immune system mistakes the compounds in certain foods for pollen proteins, says Sublett. Some foods — such as pears, cherries, peaches, apples, melons and nuts — cause breakouts or itching in the throat or around the mouth.
  
• Also, the average 1,500 square-foot home accumulates about 40 pounds of dust per year and contains about 40 million allergens.  Yeeesh! (Source: Sniffle Solutions).
• People who get allergic symptoms during the winter may be allergic to mold spores. Molds remain outside much longer than pollen, and may be indoors year-round. (Source: About.com, Allergy Fast Facts)
• A Johns Hopkins University study showed that “mite population and allergen levels decreased by 90% or more within a month of replacing mattress and pillow covers and treating bedding. (Source: Achooallergy.com)
• Your gut may be a big cause of sneezing. Upsetting the normal balance of microflora in your stomach and intestines can change your entire immune system, researchers at the University of Michigan Medical School report, intensifying your body’s response to common allergens like pollen or animal dander. According to scientists, our modern diet and increased use of antibiotics may be at fault. Safeguard your health with a diet low in sugar and high in raw fruits and vegetables, especially following treatment with antibiotics. (Source: Woman’s Day)

So I brought up its site and signed on to a live chat with an Abbott nutritionist, Christy.  By the way, good job, Abbott, with your chat tool. It was fast and ready to go as advertised.

I asked about the new “ImmunBalance” label splash on the package. What’s behind it? Christy said it reflects the antioxidant benefit delivered through selenium and vitamin C (which were already in the product) plus newly added probiotics for balancing good and bad gut bacteria. According to many health experts, the gut microflora composition comprises up to 70% of the body’s immune system defense.   

Christy also said she’d check on whether any additional research using Ensure to measure blood or saliva immune cell changes exists and could be shared. I also told her it was interesting that Ensure was choosing to use the phrase “balance” instead of “boost,” which still seems to be the most common immune tag on packaging.

I’m glad Ensure is taking the enlightened, science-driven approach and promoting immune balance.  For sure.

An announcement from Stanford University late last week about a student project competition demonstrated how cell biology and genetic research continue to change conventional approaches to medicine. (It’s also a bit amazing to consider that this project is comprised mostly of undergraduate students, not Ph.D. candidates. I sometimes wonder if today’s top undergraduate scientists at the top schools are equivalent in their course of study to many Ph.D. candidates of 20 or 30 years ago).

The crux of the project is to have students on the team take pre-packaged “biobricks” of genes provided to them in kits, and manipulate them into their own unique combination of DNA that exhibits a desired biological effect.  For the Stanford entry in the competition, they are using gene stacks to create a functional bacterium “engineered to treat inflammatory diseases by balancing immune system cells in the intestine.” They’re calling this gene stack a “machine,” a genetically powered unit that is introduced into the body to perform a task. It’s part of a field known as “synthetic biology” which was discussed on Balanced Immune Health.com in an earlier post.

According to the Stanford release:

“One of the symptoms of bowel disease is a disruption in the ratio of two different types of T-cells, Th17 and T-regulatory cells, which are a part of your immune system,” explained Suzanne Bartram, a sophomore member of the team. “Th17 cells have been known to increase levels of nitric oxide in the body, which leads to inflammation.

“The students are designing the machine to detect the cause of inflammation and release a counteracting acid. ‘We’re going to engineer the bacteria to secrete retinoic acid, which is shown to down-regulate Th17. This will bring the population of cells back down to a stable balance called homeostasis and decrease inflammation,’ she said.”

Maintaining immune balance, decreasing inflammation, it all sounds familiar to readers of this blog. My only question: can the same effect–immune system balance in the gut–be achieved through ongoing nutrition and lifestyle regimens that may also render a more balanced cellular population and response to threats that enter the body?

The author, Olivia Judson, an evolutionary biologist at Imperial College in London, states a mind-blowing statistic: that microbial cells living in our body outnumber our own “human” species cells by a factor of 10-1. (Our human cells are much larger than the microbial cells; that’s why we’re not a walking blob of biomass.)

How these genetically morphing, multi-species organisms impact health, disease, mortality or overall growth and development is the next frontier. Maybe even the next-next frontier. If unlocking the human genome was biology’s Manhattan Project, unlocking the microbial genome may be the Mission to Mars.

• Leukocytes
• Lymphocyte
• Monocytes
• Granulocytes
• B-cells
• Plasma cells
• T-cells
• Helper T-cells
• Killer T-cells
• Suppressor T-cells
• Natural killer cells
• Neutrophils
• Eosinophils
• Basophils
• Phagocytes
• Macrophages

If you really want to get into it, the site goes through a great explanation of other immune systems components, such as the lymph, or lymphatic, system and how it interacts with blood cells, antibodies, bone marrow, hormones and other body systems that contribute to immune defense.  The only thing I didn’t see much content for was the gastrointestinal system’s microflora and how beneficial bacteria in the gut impacts immune health.

But don’t let that stop you. Give it a read. It’s written in plain English and in very understandable style…almost as well as this blog!

While you’re at it, check out this cosmic animation (and music) of a macrophage cell recognizing a pathogen and latching onto it. Wild stuff.

Don’t ever make me give this up.

products. You can get your protein and calcium from other foods.”  Many “eliminators” claim that any given person’s health will improve.  I can see where some might be swayed by this advice. I had an office colleague years ago whose mother suddenly became very ill. Overnight she began experiencing severe gastrointestinal problems, skin irritation, joint pain and constant fatigue. Medical specialists were fairly stumped, thinking it might be an autoimmune condition that didn’t have much of a solution. Then, almost as a last resort, she saw a nutrition counselor who recommended she get rid of gluten-containing foods from her diet. Bread and wheat-based foods, pastas, etc.

That did the job. She improved dramatically. Certainly, if one is diagnosed as gluten intolerant or is a celiac disease sufferer (a genetic condition that triggers an autoimmune response to gluten, present in approximately .5% to 1% of the population), dietary restrictions as prescribed by a health professional are a must. However, that does not mean gluten-free should be a universal mantra.

A recently published summary here shows how gluten is helpful in maintaining proper gut health, and in turn, immune health.  A big part of the human immune defense system resides in the gut in the form of beneficial microflora. In addition, dairy foods with quality probiotic content–yogurts, aged cheeses–can also play a role in maintaining immune health.

And another fine blogger also has similar thoughts.

The EpiCor immune-balance  supplement I take happens to be gluten free, but that’s simply a function of the raw material and process deployed to achieve the finished, desired ingredient profile. I think in the end, a diet that’s balanced and in moderation across a variety of whole foods is a good bet for most.

Our immune health friends

Deardorf. She points out some good tips and cautions that people should be aware of when scouting and purchasing a probiotic food or supplement.

This blog has published several posts on probiotics (and prebiotics), so rather than start with the basics of probiotics and what they do, here’s the link to the lineup of posts that can be viewed separately anytime.

The main concerns in the Tribune story involve:

• Probiotic quality (ensuring the micro-organisms are alive and efficacious at time of consumption);
• Quantity; are there enough micro-organisms in each dose to be effective? We’re talking in the millions;
• The fact that there are many kinds of beneficial bacteria within probiotic products, but not all may work the same or even at all in any given person’s digestive system.

In addition, is the probiotic material encapsulated or tableted in a way that survives stomach enzymes and acid that can break down the organisms before they enter the intestinal tract? That and other factors are discussed in a story in Nutraceuticals World, a leading supplement trade publication, which gives a very nice overview of the probiotic field.

The staff scientists at Embria have told me that the EpiCor immune balancing supplement I take does not deliver live beneficial bacteria, but may act as a stimulant of beneficial bacterial growth, kind of a probiotic “effect” or prebiotic characteristic. But there is no label claim made on this.

One small item in Ms. Deardorf’s piece : She mentioned that supplement labels, while vague because they cannot make health claims, are not required to be preapproved by FDA.  That’s true, but it kind of implied that labels and products are unregulated. I stated that is not the case. I Twittered to her today a note saying the FDA has come down hard on products whose labels overstated a health benefit, had misrepresented ingredients or were shown not to contain stated active ingredient amounts.  Good supplement brands must be and are cautious and diligent when it comes to ingredient quality, amounts and label content.