Dr. David Y. Graham is a gastroenterologist at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX. Here, he details a long term study conducted on Crohn’s disease incidence in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Over time, the rate of Crohn’s disease increased significantly from 4.8 cases per 100,000 to 8.0 cases per 100,000. PCR (IS900 series) testing for MAP DNA in Crohn’s patients revealed that 76.7% were positive after 1 test, but when the researchers repeated the test up to 4 times, 100% of the Crohn’s patients eventually tested positive for MAP DNA. Imported beef and dairy may provide an explanation for the increase in disease.
2017 MAP Conference | Detection of MAP in Dairy Products, and Novel MAP Detection Methods with Potential Application to Blood Testing
Dr. Irene Grant is a Senior Lecturer in Microbiology and Food Safety at Queen’s University, Belfast Ireland. In her presentation, she explains and contrasts a variety of methods for detecting MAP in milk, details the latest advances from her lab including PMS-phage assay. which detects higher levels of MAP in milk and infant formula. Discussion of how PMS-phage assay for MAP could be applied to human blood samples and a Q&A session follows.
The MAP Gap Newsletter | April 2017
Human Paratuberculosis Foundation is dedicated to providing the most up-to-date information in our field to assist patients around the world in making informed decisions about their treatment. We are grateful for the support of this community and look forward to taking this journey together.
Read all the latest news and research about Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) and the treatment of Crohn’s and other diseases using AMAT therapy. Enjoy!
2017 MAP Conference | Treating MAP in Crohn’s Disease
Prof. Thomas Borody is a gastroenterologist who is the founder and Medical Director of the Centre for Digestive Diseases in Sydney, Australia. He has established novel therapies in gastrointestinal areas such as Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Parasite infestation, Resistant Helicobacter pylori and C. difficile. In this presentation, he discusses how he treats MAP-driven Crohn’s disease, treatment for fistulae, the synergy of infliximab and antibiotics, and antibiotics in treatment-naive patients. Anti-MAP therapy for pyoderma gangrenosum is also briefly discussed. A group of patients have long-term, medication free remission due to Anti-MAP therapy.
2017 MAP Conference | The Rationale for Antibiotics in Crohn’s Disease
Dr. Shafran is a gastroenterologist who has been practicing in the Orlando area since 1979. He has used Anti-MAP therapy as part of his practice, and talks about his experience treating patients, including why current therapies have no role in treating Crohn’s disease in his opinion. Research from Crohn’s patients who have been treated with antibiotics is presented. Deep mucosal healing and sustained remission was found in 11 patients over an 18 year period.
2017 MAP Conference | Rationale for Triple Antibiotic Therapy for MAP
Dr. Kalfus is a Medical Director at RedHill Biopharma, which is currently conducting a Phase III FDA trial of a specific combination of antibiotics in Crohn’s disease patients. In his presentation, Dr. Kalfus gives the reason behind triple therapy for MAP and how the three antibiotics were selected. He also talks about how the currently available Crohn’s therapies have some anti-MAP activity. MAP diagnostics, the Selby study and the ongoing RedHill study are also discussed.
2017 MAP Conference | Unacknowledged Growth Inhibition of MAP by Immunomodulators
Dr. Greenstein is a researcher in the Laboratory of Molecular Surgical Research at the VA Medical Center in Bronx, NY. He presents his research explaining why he believes that the primary action of current Crohn’s disease therapies is really Anti-MAP, and hypothesizes that Crohn’s disease may be the tip of the MAP iceberg. The antimycobacterial effect of Vitamin D is also discussed.
2017 MAP Conference | Evidence that Crohn’s Disease is a Disease of Innate Immune Deficiency
Dr. Chamberlin is a gastroenterologist at the San Antonio Military Medical Center in Texas. In his second presentation, he outlines why he believes that Crohn’s disease is both a disease of immune deficiency and also an infectious disease. The immune system is reviewed, differences in the innate and adaptive immune system are discussed, and genetic mutations which allow MAP to take advantage of certain immune pathways are detailed. Compounds which may stimulate autophagy like turmeric and Vitamin D are discussed. A Q&A session follows the presentation.
2017 MAP Conference | Implication of MAP Infection in Cattle with Implications for Infection in Humans
Appearing by WebEx at the conference, Dr. Davis is a researcher and professor in the Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology at Washington State University. Here, he summarizes the findings from his 27 year MAP study and provides an update on his progress in developing a cattle vaccine for MAP that may have insights into human MAP as well.
2017 MAP Conference | MAP, Type 1 Diabetes and Multiple Sclerosis. What is the Connection?
Appearing at the conference via Webex, Dr. Sechi is a Professor of Microbiology at the University of Sassari, Sardinia, Italy. Sardinia is an island with some of the highest rates of autoimmune diseases in the world. MAP is commonly found in their ruminant population as well. Dr. Sechi’s research shows significantly higher rates of MAP in patients with autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis and Type 1 Diabetes. He presents some of that research here, and discusses a mechanism for MAP infection in these diseases which may differ than that in Crohn’s disease. Questions from the audience follow the presentation.