Vaccines and Brain Inflammation – June 1, 2011Posted in: Articles Print Friendly Version of this pagePrint Get a PDF version of this webpagePDF Harold E Buttram, MD and Catherine J Frompovich June 1, 2011 - See more at: vaccinationcouncil.org/2011/06/01/vaccines-and-brain-inflammation/#sthash.vGFic4rS.dpuf Inflammation Inflammation is a biochemical process resulting from pathogens, irritants, or damaged cells. It should not be compared to infection, although inflammation can result from infection. A cascade of biochemical events propagates and matures the inflammatory response, involving the local vascular system, the immune system, and various cells within the injured tissue. [1] [Emphasis added] Several diseases have their origin in the inflammatory process: Alzheimer’s [2], coronary artery disease [3-6], and cancer. [7-9] Other disorders with which inflammation is associated include acne vulgaris, asthma, autoimmune diseases, chronic prostatitis, glomerulonephritis, hypersensitivities, inflammatory bowel disease, pelvic inflammatory disease, reperfusion injury, rheumatoid arthritis, transplant rejection, vasculitis, interstitial cystitis. Inflammation, therefore, is well known in the etiology of disease. Furthermore, inflammation is a protective attempt of the organism to remove harmful stimuli and is achieved by the increased movement of plasma and leukocytes (especially granulocytes) to initiate healing. [10] Encephalitis is an acute inflammation of the brain, usually associated with meningitis. Some symptoms associated with encephalitis include fever, drowsiness, fatigue, and convulsions. The primary diagnostic procedure is a lumbar puncture with removal of cerebrospinal fluid for culture and microscopic analysis. Another aspect of encephalitis known as Rasmussen’s encephalitis causes chronic inflammation with infiltration of T lymphocytes into the brain leading to atrophy and epilepsy. Several viruses including polio, chicken pox, and West Nile are capable of causing encephalitis. And, an allergic reaction to vaccinations [11], as per the National Institutes of Health, also can cause encephalitis with brain swelling. Encephalitis was included as one of the vaccine injuries to be compensated for under the 1986 National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act. [12] Vulnerabilities of the Infant Brain, Uniquely Susceptible to Lipid Peroxidation By way of explanation, the term “lipid peroxidation” refers to lipid degradation resulting from free radical generation from a series of pro-inflammatory chain reactions, which can be very damaging if the process is prolonged. “Free-radicals” in turn refer to atoms with unpaired electrons, resulting in heightened instability and reactivity. The end result of abnormally prolonged lipid peroxidation may be abnormal brain inflammation with secondary brain edema (swelling). Of all the organs of the body, the brain is the most susceptible to oxidative degradation, commonly referred to “lipid peroxidation.” Although an infant’s brain receives 15 percent of normal cardiac output, it utilizes nearly 25 percent of the body’s oxygenation. [13] As elevated oxygen levels in the environment bring increased risk of explosions or fire, comparable physiological risks exist in the brain. In addition to being a highly oxygenated organ, the human brain has heightened vulnerability to harmful peroxidation because the brain has by far the highest fat content of any organ of the body with membrane lipids constituting 60 percent of the solid matter. [14] In addition, both brain and retina contain a relatively high percentage of the omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) [10-20] and arachidonic acid (ARA) that serve as a primary building block of the membranes of these structures. DHA and ARA are high in energetics, but they are far more unstable and vulnerable to pro-inflammatory peroxidation (oxidative lipid degradation) than saturated fats. [13-22] In essence, the brain might be compared with highly inflammable dry grass or brush enclosed in an area with elevated oxygen levels, needing only a spark to set off a conflagration of inflammatory lipid peroxidation. In all likelihood, vaccine adjuvants provide this spark far more often than generally realized. The Pourcyrous Study: A Major Milestone in Medical History A study on primary immunization of 239 premature infants with gestational ages of less than 35 weeks by M. Pourcyrous et al. (Journal of Pediatrics, 2007) [23] was conducted to determine the incidence of cardio-respiratory events and abnormal C-Reaction Protein (CRP) elevations associated with administration of a single vaccine or multiple vaccines simultaneously at or about two months of age. The vaccines given were: DTaP (Infanrix), Hib (ActHIB), HBV (Engerix-B), IPV (Inactivated-IPOL™), and PCV7 (Prevnar). CRP is a standard blood test indicator for body inflammation, which in the present study would represent brain inflammation. CRP levels and cardio-respiratory manifestations were monitored for three days following immunizations in a neonatal intensive care unit sponsored by the University of Tennessee. Elevations of CRP levels occurred in 70 percent of the infants administered single vaccines and in 85 percent of those administered multiple vaccines, 43 percent of which reached abnormal levels. As the Pourcyrous study noted, A plausible explanation for variation in the magnitude of CRP responses to immunization may be attributed to viral versus bacterial antigenic stimulation, minor variability in the quantity of antigens in different vaccine lots, the multiple antigenic component of a vaccine, the presence and the quantity of aluminum adjuvant, genetic polymorphism or to decrease immunologic responses in some preterm infants. [24] Overall, 16 percent of infants had potentially lethal vaccine-associated cardio-respiratory events with episodes of apnea (cessation of breathing) and/or bradycardia (abnormal slowing of the pulse). Intraventricular (brain) hemorrhages occurred in 17 percent of those receiving single vaccines and in 24 percent of those receiving multiple vaccines. Pourcyrous, et al. further indicated that Other investigators also have reported on cardiorespiratory events following immunization with DTaP-based multivalent vaccines or when DTaP was given simultaneously with other vaccines. Omenaca et al. after excluding from their study infants with chronic illnesses and using only one lot of combination vaccine, observed cardiorespiratory events in 42% of infants with BW [body weight]
Posted on: Tue, 10 Sep 2013 16:55:36 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015