Mycoplasma Fermentans Symptoms

Mycoplasma fermentans is a gram-negative bacterium that is surrounded by a plasma membrane. The organism was first isolated in the lower genital tract of humans, although it was found relatively rarely. According to the Medical Dictionary Online, the incognitus strain of this pathogen has been found "in necrotizing lesions of multiple organs from AIDS and non-AIDS patients dying of an acute influenza-like disease." It also has been linked to Gulf War syndrome and rheumatoid arthritis.

History

• In a study published in the January-March 1997 issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases, Joel B. Baseman and Joseph G. Tulley traced the somewhat sketchy history of the pathogen's existence. As previously noted, it was first isolated from the genital tracts of both men and women in the early 1950s, although no link has yet been established between the pathogen and disease of the lower genital tract. In the 1970s studies suggested links with rheumatoid arthritis and pediatric leukemia, although these relationships have not been proven. Later, in the early 1990s, a link between the pathogen and Gulf War syndrome was strongly suggested by doctors Garth and Nancy Nicolson, whose daughter returned ill after service in Operation Desert Storm.

Symptoms

• Mycoplasma fermentans is not an illness in itself but is widely cited as a contributing factor in various ailments, most notably Gulf War syndrome, which has multiple parallels with chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia. The symptoms of Gulf War syndrome include profound fatigue, night sweats, periodic fevers, muscle pain, memory loss, headaches, skin rashes, diarrhea, depression, irritability, chronic bronchitis and abdominal bloating.

Resistance to Antibiotics

• Although broad-spectrum antibiotics seem able to control infections caused by other mycoplasmas, those linked to Mycoplasma fermentans are generally resistant to these drugs. This means that infections caused by this pathogen are difficult, if not impossible, to control in patients whose immune systems have been compromised. It also means that infections related to the pathogen would be harder to fight in the general population as well.

Link to Rheumatoid Arthritis

• Growing evidence of a link between Mycoplasma fermentans and rheumatoid arthritis emerged in a study by Japanese medical researchers. The study, published in the May 2008 issues of Biochemical & Biophysical Research Communications, identified known antigens of the pathogen in a large number of patients with rheumatoid arthritis, increasing evidence of a link. The researchers concluded that more study is needed but voiced the hope that the increasing knowledge about the link would provide the basis for development of "effective and safe immunotherapeutic strategies."

Gulf War Syndrome

• An August 1996 article in the McAlvany Intelligence Advisor probed the link between Mycoplasma fermentans and Gulf War syndrome. The article, written by Donald S. McAlvany, cited an estimate by U.S. Air Force Capt. Joyce Riley that roughly half of all the U.S. soldiers who fought in 1991's Operation Desert Storm would test positive for the incognitus strain of the pathogen, which is implicated in the collection of symptoms known as Gulf War syndrome.