NOTE:  THIS ARTICLE IS A ROUGH DRAFT AND UNPUBLISHED!

Original found here:  http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/coalitionforcegwi

/During November 2005, similarities were recognised between the chemical structures of mptp and Pyridostigmine bromide. A prominent medical researcher described it as an "interesting observation". The RAND report on Pyridostigmine bromide did not consider mptp. Time will tell whether the hypothesis is correct.

Unpublished Rough Draft 

HYPOTHESIS ON THE CAUSES AND NATURE OF GULF WAR ILLNESSES  THAT AFFECTS 1991 GULF WAR VETERANS FROM SEVERAL COUNTRIES, AND UK VETERANS FROM THE 2003 INVASION OF IRAQ

MPTP INDUCED PARKINSON’S DISEASE

DRUG ABUSE

In 1982, a group of Californian drug abusers used the chemical MPTP as a substitute for heroin. Within two weeks, approximately a dozen from about 400 abusers had developed the symptoms of advanced Parkinson’s disease. The disease behaved like idiopathic PD with the exception that Lewy bodies in the brain were absent and none of the cases had dementia. Unlike neuroleptic drugs, the symptoms did not disappear when their use ceased.

Gulf War Illnesses developed quickly in some individuals but took a year or so in others. The time between the conflict and the emergence of the first symptom was closer to the time frame of MPTP induced Parkinson’s than to the many years it takes to develop idiopathic PD. As yet GWI, like MPTP induced PD, has proved irreversible.

PYRIDOSTIGMINE BROMIDE, AVIATION FUELS AND DIESEL / PETROL ARE SUSPECTS FROM THE 1991 GULF WAR

 In the “Review of Illnesses suffered by 1991 Gulf War Veterans from Australia, Canada, France, the UK and US”, which was reviewed by Maj Gen, the Rev, Ian Durie, a senior British Army commander during the 1991 Gulf War, it was argued for non medical reasons that there were three possible causes of Gulf War Illness.

 Pyridostigmine bromide

 Aviation fuels

 Diesel / petrol fumes.

 2003 INVASION OF IRAQ – CONFIRMATION THAT PYRIDOSTIGMINE BROMIDE IS THE PREDOMINANT CAUSE OF GULF WAR ILLNESS

  UK veterans involved in the 2003 Invasion of Iraq are suffering from Gulf War Illness having once again taken Pyridostigmine bromide. UK service personnel were made to sign ethically debateable disclaimers; one UK Government official said that this was good medical practice, but another said that disclaimers were not “central policy”.

There are no reports of GWI amongst US veterans from the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. Indeed the Manchester US, Sunday News ran an article in 2005 quoting an experienced GWI doctor under the title “ Iraq War showing more traditional illnesses”.  Similarly there are no reports that US Service personnel took PB during the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. In 1991, senior US medical officers had serious reservations about its safety, and these were clearly so severe that in 2005 the US  awarded a contract for research into a new prophylactic for exposure to nerve agents.

There were no oil well fires; US troops, because of their wider use of depleted uranium, were more likely to be exposed to it; the number of psychiatric casualties is likely to have been low since the number of battle casualties is known to be relatively low; there are not believed to been significant differences in the immunisation protocol of the US and UK, and in any case immunisations are unlikely to be a cause of GWI; aviation fuels, and propellants were similar in both countries.

 The evidence is unequivocal.

COMMON LINK BETWEEN AVIATION FUEL, MPTP AND PB

Pyridine. 

Pyridine is a simple heterocyclic aromatic organic compound, with one CH group in the six-membered ring replaced by a nitrogen atom. Pyridine is widely used as a solvent and reagent in organic chemistry and it is also a starting material in the synthesis of compounds used as an intermediate in making insecticides, herbicides, pharmaceuticals, food flavorings, dyes, rubber chemicals, adhesives, paints, explosives and disinfectants. Pyridine is also used as a denaturant for antifreeze mixtures. Pyridine is protonated by reaction with acids by reaction with acids and forms a positively charged aromatic polyatomic ion called Pyridinium cation.

Complex Chemical Compounds which include a Pyridine Structure. MPTP, Paraquat and PB all include Pyridine as part of more complex structures.

HYPOTHESIS

 One of the causes, perhaps the sole cause, of Gulf War Illness or Illnesses is the positively charged aromatic polyatomic ion called Pyridinium cation existing as a single entity or as part of a more complex chemical structure. The positively charged Nitrogen ion is the critical part of the Pyridinium cation with its capacity to form ionic bonds.

 The hypothesis is analogous to the mptp model of Parkinson’s disease with the exception that the Pyridine may or may not be protonated on entry into the body.

SOURCES OF PYRIDINIUM CATION

 PYRIDOSTIGMINE BROMIDE – THE MAIN SOURCE

 The main source of Pyridinium cations was the chemical Pyridostigmine bromide used as a Nerve Agent Pre treatment used by 1991 Gulf War veterans’ from several countries, and as well by UK veterans from the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. The relationships between PB uptake and the incidence of GWI in surveys, and the high incidence of GWI on the Saudi / Kuwait bordeer on the 19^th and 20^th Jan 1991 which can only be explained by sudden uptake of pb following the first SCUD attacks, place PB as the main source.

 PYRIDINE

 General.   The uses of Pyridine are diverse including wood preservatives. A Swedish study noted that wood preservatives seemed to be a risk factor in the development of PD.

 Aviation Fuels.  Another source of Pyridinium cations was Pyridine added to the military aviation fuels JP-4, JP-5 and JP-8. Incomplete combustion, or evaporation from exposed fuel, could lead to individuals inhaling Pyridine. 

 Propellants  Some propellants contain Pyridine; it is not known whether Coalition Force explosives or propellants contained Pyridine.

 Oil Well Fires.  Some crude oils contain naturally occurring Pyridine; it is not known whether oil extracted in Kuwait contains Pyridine.

 Non Aviation Fuels  It is not known whether petrol and diesel used by the Coalition Force contained Pyridine.

 Solvents  The Swedish study noted that exposure to “organic solvents was identified as a significant risk factor in an Italian study with 86 cases and as many controls; pesticides were only weakly associated with risk in this study.  This risk factor for solvent exposure was later replicated in another study.” It is not known whether Pyridine solvents were used by the Coalition Force.

 OTHER PYRIDINE DERIVATIVE

 Use of Pyridines Electro luminescent properties in Visual Display Units and Head Up Displays.

It is not known to what extent Pyridine’s electro luminescent properties were used in Coalition Force military equipment. It is not known whether these devices are a source of Pyridine vapour.

 Paraquat   Paraquat is a toxic chemical that is widely used as an herbicide (plant killer), primarily for weed and grass control.  A study from Taiwan on 120 patients with Parkinson’s disease and 240 hospital controls indicated a risk from herbicides/pesticides including paraquat, whereas an earlier study of paraquat workers did not.

 Pyrolisation   “The oils and hydraulics used in airplane engines are toxic, and specific ingredients of such materials are irritating, sensitising and neurotoxic. If oil or hydraulic fluids leaks out of engines, this contamination may be in the form of unchanged oil/fluid, degraded oil/fluid from long use in the engine, combusted oil/fluid or pyrolised oil/fluid, in the form of gases, vapours, mists and particulate matter. If leak incidents occur and the oil/fluid is ingested into bleed air and is passed to the flight deck and passenger cabins of airplanes in flight, aircrew and passengers may be exposed to contaminants that can affect their health and safety.”

Metallurgy.  Pyridinium compounds are used as secondary brighteners in nickel plating solutions while one type of levelling agent, used, is pyridinium propyl sulphonate. Welders are thought to be a high risk occupation for pd.

FEASIBILITY

http://www.liebermanparkinsonclinic.com/content/view/57/25/

Do the smaller molecules or more streamlined molecules penetrate further into the brain.

Do different molecules cause different damage in the substantia nigra

THE NEUROLOGICAL NATURE OF GULF WAR ILLNESS

SYMPTOMS

The symptoms of GWI seem to be either PB Side Effects OR Parkinson’s disease

MILITARY RESEARCH INTO PD

The minutes of meetings of the US Parkinson's Disease Coordinating Committee reveal the extent of military research into Parkinson’s disease. In 2002, the minutes stated the following. “The Department of Defense (DOD) recently sponsored a New York Academy of Sciences conference on "Parkinson's Disease: The Life Cycle of the Dopamine Neuron". DOD also has funded several projects involving neuroprotection and muscarinic receptors.”  In 2004, it was mentioned that the DOD is currently funding 136 projects related to PD. The six VA PD Centers established as the surgical centers for the DBS were mentioned aagain in 2006.

 The work of the UK ’s Chemical Defence Establishment into Parkinson’s disease was praised by the local Member of Parliament on his website.

   PYRIDINIUM CATION HYPOTHESIS AND ITS PLAUSIBILITY WITH NEUROLOGICAL STUDIES IN A MILITARY SETTING

 Military deployment to Vietnam and during World War 2 raised the risk of PD but there was no added risk during the Korean War.  If Pyridine in fuels is the cause of neurological illnesses then a plausible explanation for the results of the study might well be linked to climatic temperatures. Aircraft and vehicle use during combat operations is probably higher than in the homeland training environment. During WW2, US Forces operated in the Pacific basin with warm temperatures. Of course, US Forces in Europe would have experienced temperate temperatures, but overall during WW2 military personnel experienced higher average temperatures than in Korea with its extremes of temperature. In Vietnam the temperatures were tropical so Pyridine vapour was greater than at home.

For the same climatic reasons, herbicide use might have been less in Korea ?

 “Greater mortality due to nervous system diseases in UK soldiers who served in desert areas in comparison with UK sailors or airmen” Mortality among UK servicemen who served abroad in the 1950s and 1960s, Darby et al, Br J Ind Med 1990;47:793-26  It was common practice for British soldiers to cook and brew tea on improvised cookers. The cookers were metal cans filled with sand soaked petrol and other fuels. Did the fuels contain pyridine.

 Strong association between the occupations of the communications and electro-electronics group and deaths due to diseases of cerebral degeneration and Parkinson’s disease. The study found that in particular, radar operators were at higher risk of having PD. Radar operators work further away from the antenna emitting electro-magnetic radiation than other occupations. With older radar display units, the Author remembers that radar operators constantly marked the position of radar plots on their screens for reference with china graph pencils. They were constantly marking and cleaning the screens. Is the Author correct? Was the solvent they used pyridine?

Occupation and mortality in the Brazilian Navy, Rev.Saude Publica vol.38 no.5 Sao Paulo Oct.2004

SUGGESTED CLASSIFICATION FOR PYRIDINE RELATED ILLNESSES

Four illnesses could be associated with the 1991 Gulf War. Personnel might suffer illnesses 1 and 2, or illnesses 3 and 4, or all four illnesses. This depended whether or not they took PB or were exposed to Pyridine primarily in aviation fuels.

1. GULF WAR ILLNESS (PB induced neurological illness / PD)

2. PB POISONING

3. AEROTOXIC ILLNESS (Pyridine induced neurological illness / PD)

4. PYRIDINE POISONING

 Are individuals who were exposed to Pyridines before the 1991 Gulf War more susceptible than those who had not?

 Is there a cumulative effect over a lifetime?

 Do the three possibilities correspond to Dr Haley’s classification of GWS?

 Where do mycoplasmas fit in?

 Do these four illnesses explain all the symptoms of GWI?