I suffer from Vitiligo. It is a skin pigmentation disorder, for which currently there is no cure. I count my blessings, and consider myself lucky, that this is only a skin disorder, and presents no 'real' health threats.
However, I would obviously prefer that I did not suffer from this autoimmune disease.
Since being diagnosed, I have done my own extensive research into Vitiligo, this is my theory.
It is a long post, so buckle in....
TLDR
Endotoxins cause cellular signal deformations, result in death of Melanocytes. In my case (and in my theory) the Endotoxin (and cause of my Vitiligo) was introduced via Chlorella, specifically Lipopolysaccharide within the cell walls of Chlorella, a Spirulina type supplement.
Promising CURE:
Tofacitinib
http://www.umassmed.edu/vitiligo/blog/blog-posts1/2015/06/tofacitinib-treatment-for-vitiligo/
2015 was a very good year in the advancement of treatments and/or CURES for Vitiligo.
2020 could be a great year.
http://www.bidnessetc.com/60036-gilead-joins-pfizer-and-eli-lilly-in-jak-race/
JAK inhibitors inhibit the deformed signal:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janus_kinase_inhibitor
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janus_kinase#Clinical_significance
/TLDR
Bear with me, my terminology is laymens and I may get some of the terminology wrong. I am hoping someone with more authority on the subject (Vitiligo/immunologists and the like) will read this and consider it seriously for further, deeper consideration analyses/critique as a potential root cause of Vitiligo in some cases.
Please read my previous post if you would like some background here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Vitiligo/comments/1xw7uo/i_have_just_been_diagnosed_with_vitiligo_i_have_a/
I recommend reading every link I put in this post. Every one is important in understanding Vitiligo.
A few years have passed, with no improvement visible to the Vitiligo on my face (in fact it is 2x worse).
I have a new theory today.
My previous post details my (massively) healthy diet upheaval about 1.5yrs prior to me noticing any symptoms of my Vitiligo, eventually I fell off the health wagon, and about a year or so later I noticed my symptoms.
Encouraged by my results in my previous health kick, I planned to return to a healthy diet to battle my new formidable nemesis - Vitiligo.
Whilst i do believe in maintaining a moderately healthy diet for us sufferers, I now know i was approaching my battle from the wrong angle all this time.
Today, I believe I found the answer I have been looking for.
Revelation
My theory now is that via the consumption of Chlorella supplements (in my previous health-kick prior to being diagnosed), I had boosted my immune system so much, that it was boosted into a state of overdrive, and its renewed 'strength' was actually the reason I had developed the disease, and I believe I have the science to back up my claim if my sources are correct.
I am by no means an expert in the fields of immunology or health at all. I don't claim to be. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. Ever Googled symptoms when you feel sick? I usually think I have Stage 4 Cancer by the end. Fuck Cancer.
Nope, I am just a guy on a laptop, but I am a guy with a laptop that has access to the entire combined historical library of human knowledge at my fingertips at the click of a few buttons. Just a guy, searching, for definitive, logical answers to this (personally) often psychologically debilitating auto-immune disease I suffer from.
Here is my new theory
I had never taken Chlorella before in my life, only for a 6 month period or so during my health kick period. I had never had any form of skin problem before in my life what-so-ever until post consumption of Chlorella. I was taking it, at the time, literally to boost my immune system and flush out heavy metals from my system due to a very serious health scare that my Father and family suffered out of nowhere.
Alongside my strict raw vegan diet (no longer my diet FYI) at the time of my Fathers health scare I was taking the higher recommended dosage amounts of Chlorella (brand Melrose). Up to 10-15 pills a day. A super-food, apparently. Perfectly harmless at high doses according to Melrose et al. I was desperate to cleanse my body, to thrive, and I was drinking the Kool-Aid.
FYI this is the supplement I was consuming: http://www.australianorganicproducts.com.au/Melrose-Organic-Chlorella-Tablets-200-Tabs-p/chl007.htm
Turns out a Chlorella cell wall contains Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) (an extremely potent Endotoxin in humans, which significantly affects the immune system):
Source:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlorella#Health_concerns
More on the Endotoxin:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lipopolysaccharide
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lipopolysaccharide#Auto-immune_disease
The concern
[1] In a 2002 paper, Armstrong et al. [2] discovered a lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in the cellular wall of Chlorella. LPS is an endotoxin found on the surface of all
gram-negative bacteria such as E. coli or Salmonella and is a potent immune system activator. When LPS binds to receptors on the surface of macrophages (phagocytic cells of the innate immune system), it activates them and induces them to release pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-1β
Source:
[1] http://robbwolf.com/2012/01/19/trojan-horses-of-chlorella-superfood/
[2] Armstrong PB, Armstrong MT, Pardy RL, Child A, Wainwright N., Immunohistochemical demonstration of a lipopolysaccharide in the cell wall of a eukaryote, the green alga, Chlorella, Biol Bull. 2002 Oct;203(2):203-4.
Read that last line again in the paragraph above, take note.
What is a cytokine you ask? Turns out they are quite a big deal in the world of our immune system and how our cells communicate to each other in regards to good guy/bad guy and immune system housekeeping. We all know what Vitiligo is. It is our melanocytes (good cells) being attacked for no good reason.
I recommend you read the information at the link below on Cytokines.
Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cytokine
Cytokines and Vitiligo:
...In conclusion, we provided evidence that a significant change of epidermal cytokines exists in vitiligo skin compared with perilesional, non-lesional and healthy skin, suggesting that the cytokine production of epidermal microenvironment may be involved in vitiligo.
Source:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11936274
The kicker
...Using these systems, we have identified one of the critical pathways used by T cells to crawl into the skin and find melanocytes. The first signal in the pathway is IFN-g, a protein made by immune cells, which acts as a powerful master switch to turn on immune responses. IFN-g then turns on CXCL10, which is required for the ability of T cells to find melanocytes and kill them. Imagine an ant that has found a new piece of food on the ground. The ant then lays a chemical trail that others follow to the food. CXCL10 acts like that chemical trail, promoting both proper localization of T cells to “find” the melanocytes, and also increases their determination to kill them.
Take note of the name of the critical pathway in the paragraph above - IFN-g.
Also take note of what IFN-g turns on - CXCL10.
...There are existing drugs that have been developed by pharmaceutical companies that block the ability of CXCL10 to function in humans, and so they may be effective treatments in vitiligo.
See PDF of this article: http://stm.sciencemag.org/content/scitransmed/6/223/223ra23.full.pdf?keytype=ref&siteid=scitransmed&ijkey=X8sgJTjYlt0Co
CXCL10 (cell signal deformation and Vitiligo is bang on inline with the most recent success of Vitiligo treatment using Tofacitinib:
http://healthytreatment.info/has-yale-university-finally-found-a-cure-for-vitiligo/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tofacitinib
Which is a drug of the class:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janus_kinase
^
..Transgenic mice that do not express JAK1 have defective responses to some cytokines, such as interferon-gamma.
There is that IFN-g!!!! (interferon-gamma).
Read about recent research on CXCL10 and Vitiligo here - VERY interesting:
Source:
http://profiles.umassmed.edu/profiles/display/133089
What is IFN-g you ask? This is the kicker.... It is a Cytokine.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interferon_gamma
I propose that my Chlorella supplements (and in the vast population of sufferers of Vitiligo - an introduction of endotoxins into the body of some kind) had personally increased Cytokine production via the introduction of the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) into my body via the dangerously large LPS amounts within the Chlorella binding to the macrophages, and activating them, inducing them to release the pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-1β.
Over the next few hours/days I will add to this post in further detail as to why I truly believe endotoxins and in particular Chlorella has been the primary contributing factor to the emergence of my Vitiligo. This post will be a work in progress.
I am 'hoping' to hear from immunologists/specialists in the field concerning the cellular/immune system level, and other sufferers (or not) who may have included said supplements in their diets as I believe the endotoxins contained within them are responsible for binding onto particular cellular receptors and changing cell signals in the innate immune system leading to an increase in production of the very cells that induce melanocytes destruction via miscommunication between healthy cells and the immune system. Perhaps there is a genetic disposition, and this was the trigger.
I am not looking to sue Melrose, yet. I want to find a cure. A source. I am a programmer. I spend my days looking for bugs in code. As Mr. Robot says...
bug fixing is not about fixing the bug, it is about understanding why it was there in the first place, knowing that its existence was no accident.
Not looking at the symptoms, but the cause. That is bug fixing.
I have further armchair research that concludes LPS are also capable of mimicry - appearing as healthy cells and are entirely interested and focused on cells DIRECTLY related to Vitiligo. More to come.
Quick overview: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lipopolysaccharide#Auto-immune_disease
Here I was thinking I had to make my immune system stronger, via an extremely healthy diet to defeat Vitiligo, when in fact the very thing that I was consuming (prior to having any symptoms of Vitiligo) in order to save me from health issues such as 'heavy metals' and so forth as described by Melrose et al. was the initial root cause, the true evil source of my recent seemingly 'come-out-of-nowhere' incurable disease.
Chlorella/Spirulina is essentially your immune system on steroids. I had boosted my immune system in such an extreme manner, my own body was confused with the good guys and the bad guys.
This idea has sat with me quietly for over a year (the idea that maybe I was eating so healthy I boosted my immune system up too much), but I had no connections. It was just some loose idea. Tonight I have found the missing piece. Then I started to think more. I cannot remember the last time I was sick. It has been years (besides Vitiligo).
I would like to hear about any other potential sources of Endotoxins in the day to day world, foods we eat and so forth. So please if you have any information at all reply with a comment.
A great video explaining the latest developments: