Skin Gut Axis, Stool testing Analytes, Biofilm

Some things you might have missed this week.

Skin Gut/Axis

As above so below. A dysbiotic gut can equal dysbiotic skin. Conditions like Acne, Psoriasis, Rosacea, and Eczema are intimately linked to the gut.

The gut bacteria along with the digestive immune system at the intestinal barrier (called Gut Associated Lymphatic Tissue ) form a firewall that regulates inflammation in the body.

This barrier when breached allows the passage of microbes (and other compounds) across the intestinal barrier. Breaching introduces the host to external substances that otherwise be fended off.

Once the breach has taken place there is a B-cell hyperresponsive environment in the body which impairs T-regulatory cells and decreases the production of Secretory IgA. Fancy way of saying the immune system goes bezerk and is upregulated but not protecting in the most efficient way. This sets up the gut for further breach of harmful/toxic substances to cross into through the intestinal barrier. This dysbiotic environment ends up pushing through lymphatics and circulatory system ending up in the skin organ creating dysbiotic skin. The result can be all the conditions I mentioned. (Mahmud, 2022).

When someone comes into a dermatologist office this is not talked about currently. Yet it will be in the future. With my patients I go straight to discussion on hunting down gut dysbiosis and intestinal barrier issues and fixing those issues with nutrients, probiotics, herbal medicines, and supportive natural compounds.

There is much more to treating skin issues such as as Omega-3-6-7-9 status in the body. As well as skin integrity, moisture, probiotic population. Finally food reactivity and hormone balance may matter.

Did you notice I didn't mention steroids? At the end of the day that is what is given for most skin conditions. Why? Suppressive treatments are easy. Solving a problem takes work.
more information here: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19490976.2022.2096995

Sinus Biofilms

Sinus infections that don't go away might be due to the presence of biofilm producing microbes like Klebsiella species and Staphylococcus species. No wonder antibiotics often fail if these bugs are building a bunker of biofilm to hide from antibiotics and the immune system. Getting a sinus culture by PCR is essential for chronic sinus sufferers (BTW I use MicrogenDX for this test) That way specific treatments can be developed that take into account the need to break down biofilm.

more information here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5807296/

Stool Eosinophil Protein X

Stool Eosinophil Protein X (EPX). I often order stool digestive function tests and a biomarker is tested called Eosinophil Protein X (EPX) .What the heck does it mean when elevated? EPX, also known as eosinophil-derived neurotoxin, is a protein released by eosinophils, a type of white blood cell involved in allergic reactions and asthma. So in the stool we often use it as predictor for food allergies (or other allergies) and interestingly enough it can be a predictor of parasitosis. The evidence on EPX as a marker; is weak so it's usually considered a soft signal and perhaps a clue to further investigate food allergies (and/or parasitosis). For this marker I use Genova-GI effects, Vibrant Gut Zoomer, or Diagnostic Health Solutions- GI map. Interpretations of labs is very much an art and a science.

more information here https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1365-2222.2003.01725.x

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