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Newer antimicrobial therapies proposed may lead to resistance of human innate immune response.

By Steve Vaitl in Ethics on February 23rd, 2012 at 9:08 am

One current trend into fighting antibiotic resistant bacteria is developing a new class refered to as antimicrobial peptides (AMP’s). However a newly published study published¹ a proof of concept that bacteria will develop not only resistance to these new drugs but to our own innate immune response peptides as well.

A very nice summary of the findings was published in the latest issue of The Scientist online magazine.²

1. G. J. L. Habets, Michelle, and Michael Brockhurst. “Therapeutic
antimicrobial peptides may compromise natural immunity .” Biology Letters. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2012. <http://rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/early/2012/01/20/rsbl.2011.1203

2. Richards, Sabrina. “Antimicrobial Cross-Resistance Risk | The Scientist.” The Scientist. N.p., 24 Jan. 2012. Web. 23 Feb. 2012. <http://the-scientist.com/2012/01/24/antimicrobial-cross-resistance-risk/

Immune Responses to Spinal Manipulation

By Frank M. Painter, D.C. in Immune Function on May 1st, 2011 at 1:50 pm

Immune Responses to Spinal Manipulation

The Chiro.Org Blog

SOURCE: Dynamic Chiropractic ~ May 6, 2011

By Malik Slosberg, DC, MS

For many years, chiropractors have observed in their own practices that their patients sometimes demonstrate improvements of complaints related to immune problems: the disappearance or lessening of allergy symptoms, quicker recovery from or less frequent and severe colds and other respiratory infections, and so on.

In the scientific literature, there have been occasional case reports that corroborate such findings, but no sound evidence to really document their veracity. These clinical observations remain suspended in that grey area unsubstantiated by scientific data to confirm their validity. Significant limitations of changes attributed to spinal manipulation in individual patients include

1) there is never a control group;
2) there is no blinding;
3) the improvement may simply be due to time;
4) they may be a nonspecific effect of care and attention;
5) it may be a regression to the mean; or
6) the result may be due to something other than spinal manipulation.

In some large studies, it has been found that chiropractic care for nonmusculoskeletal conditions is only weakly to moderately successful, but rarely harmful. [1-2] The most recent and thorough systematic literature review found that the evidence for effectiveness of spinal manipulation was inconclusive for nonmusculoskeletal conditions. [3]

Despite the lack of evidence of clinical effectiveness for nonmusculoskeletal conditions, a series of recent studies from several international research groups is systematically building the case that spinal manipulation appears to reduce the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines and increase the blood levels of immunoregulatory cytokines. Cytokines are small cell-signaling protein molecules that are secreted by numerous cells of the immune system and are a category of signaling molecules used extensively in intercellular communication.

There are more articles like this in our:

Chiropractic and Immune Function Page

Early Life Infections and the Immune System

By Frank M. Painter, D.C. in Education on July 25th, 2009 at 11:10 am

Early Life Infections and the Immune System

The Chiro.Org Blog

There is a growing body of literature suggesting that early (infant) antibiotic use (and perhaps vaccination) is associated with increased incidence of adolescent diseases like asthma, and other atopic diseases like hay fever and eczema.

The general consensus seems to be that the Immune System is strengthened by fighting early mild infections, and that surpressing them artificially, with antibiotics and certain vaccines, leaves the child more prone to atopy later in life. At least that’s what the statistics seems to point to.