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Confused about Probiotics and Tregs.

Ema

Senior Member
Messages
4,729
Location
Midwest USA
I am reading this article, Influence of Dietary Components on Regulatory T Cells, and I keep having questions. Hopefully someone can help!

So Tregs modulate the immune response and can prevent an autoimmune or inflammatory response, in a nutshell.

But the article says that Tregs are stimulated by TGF-b1. I thought that many with MECFS, and certainly many with mold illness, have *high* TGF-b1 already. I know mine is off the charts. So, shouldn't I already have plenty of Tregs? Would increasing Tregs further by using a probiotic even be a good idea?

Also, from the article:

It is suggested that probiotics have direct effects on Tregs by interfering with nuclear factor (NF)-κB degradation. In accordance, Lactobacillus plantarum is able to block NF-κB degradation via blockage of proteasome function.

Don't most with MECFS also have high NF-kB? Wouldn't blocking degredation of it be a *bad* thing? Is this another strain to avoid?

The next sentence suggests that other strains, such as B infantis, do reduce NF-kB activation and increase Tregs.

Additionally, oral application of the probiotic strain B. infantis reduced NF-κB activation and increased the numbers of FoxP3+ cells in mucosa and spleen, counterbalancing the NF-κB–activating properties of pathogenic strains such as Salmonella typhimurium (25).

So is there anything to be taken from this article at this point regarding the immune system and probiotics? I realize most of it is still speculative but since there are so many types of probiotics available and many of us take them, it seems wise to try to pick the best one for our own individual situation.

The article also discusses Vitamins A and D, gluten and fatty acids.
 

sillysocks84

Senior Member
Messages
445
Is it possible we don't have an appropriate number of tregs, so tgfb1 is constantly trying to stimulate something that isn't there or not in appropriate amount? Don't even know if that's possible.