Hookworms, anemia, autoimmunity and the HIF-1/EPO/cathelicidin pathway induced by iron deficiency
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From: Kofi on 13 Apr 2008 23:10 Recently published research shows that hyrdoxylase inhibitors have gastroprotective properties through the induction of HIF-1a, thus making them a potential medication for leaky gut problems [PMID 18166353, 18166352]. Low iron conditions and iron chelators like EGCG also activate HIF-1a, as does cobalt chloride as I pointed out in another post. I was reviewing my notes on autoimmunity and a connection became very clear. Intestinal helminths block the development of autoimmunity and allergy. A medical researcher at the University of Nottingham named Alan Brown took hookworms to cure his allergies several years ago and he mentioned their only drawback was that they caused mild anemia <http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/node/695> - in other words, iron deficiency. It didn't occur to me that these linked up until now. I believe that this anemia could actually be central to the gastroprotective role of helminths. The hookworms could trip HIF-1a via low iron just like iron chelators do thus performing the job of the hydroxylase inhibitors used in the recent leaky gut research. Cathelicidin is downstream of vitamin D3/HIF-1a and tilts mast cell inflammation towards innate immunity [PMID 18239275] and away from the spontaneous degranulation seen in allergy and other autoimmune conditions. This HIF-1a pathway also induces angiogenesis in the skin [PMID 17536272] and I think it might behave similarly in the gut. Defects in the HIF-1a pathway might then account for the deranged angiogenesis we see in certain inflammatory bowel conditions.
From: Ernie Primeau on 14 Apr 2008 04:45
Kofi, do hookworms make you fart? Ernie |