John Beach Profile picture
Feb 20, 2023 6 tweets 5 min read Read on X
@BrownJHM @AaronGoodman33 The Brown Recluse.
As replies note, its bite injects a potent hydrolase enzyme:
Sphingomyelinase D,
a sphingomyelin phosphodiesterase, which breaks sphingomyelin into phosphocholine & ceramide.

Treatment? Wikipedia options sound inadequate.

PubMed inspired many questions!

1/n
@BrownJHM @AaronGoodman33 In PubMed, this caught my eye:
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25938271/
Sphingomyelinase D/ceramide 1-phosphate in cell survival and inflammation

the venom of Loxosceles, or the toxins of some bacteria such as
Corynebacterium tuberculosis, or
Vibrio damsela
possess high levels of SMase D

2/n
@BrownJHM @AaronGoodman33 As I am not a doctor, I’ll stop here.

I do think, however, that scientists have described the chemistry of Sphingomyelinase D well enough that the bite of a Brown Recluse could be made less necrotic.

Seems like a couple small-molecule solutions would be worth trying.

3/n
“Targeting Loxosceles spider Sphingomyelinase D with small-molecule inhibitors as a potential therapeutic approach for loxoscelism”
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30734604/

They evaluated benzene sulphonate (a.k.a. benzene sulfonate) compounds.

4/n
Based on other past insights, I searched Google Scholar

cholecalciferol “Sphingomyelinase d”

Plenty to read, & I suspect there are important answers to be found in the relevant ions (Mg, Ca)

5/n
Calcium, Magnesium, proposed relevance of UV exposure & vitamin D3 to activity of the Sphingomyelinase D.

scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&…+“Sphingomyelinase+d”&btnG=#d=gs_qabs&t=1676904884988&u=%23p%3D5SjhfhOM7CYJ

In this research, they abolished activity of BRSV SMase D with EDTA

6/n

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More from @JohnBeachTX

Feb 18, 2023
Due to cats' enzyme activity, cats don’t make niacin, & I infer this makes cats resistant to infection by tuberculosis.

I asked ChatGPT:
What other bacteria utilize niacin for growth, reproduction or virulence? Of these bacteria, which cause disease in humans, not in cats?
1/n
Partially unverified ChatGPT answer, edited:

Other bacteria that utilize niacin include
Staphylococcus aureus,
Salmonella,
Vibrio cholerae,
Listeria monocytogenes,
[which] cause disease in humans but not in cats.

I skimmed much research, as I checked the ChatGPT answer.

2/n Image
Research papers I found were great, & it looks like there is much to learn from piecing it together & inferring additional medically-important insights.

As example, I’ll focus on just one of the bacteria, & follow only a few tangents to see where they lead.

Vibrio cholerae

3/n
Read 16 tweets
Feb 15, 2023
@BrownJHM @Radiopaedia Great tweet & replies re
patient w/ history of leukemia presented with fever & cough.
Replies : cryptoccocus neoformans

The case reminded me of another thread on pyruvate carboxylase & leukemia.


So I skimmed Google Scholar my own tweets and…

1/2 Image
@BrownJHM @Radiopaedia Much to learn re
infection, leukemia, PC, etc.

Someday, I’ll retrace this exploration to where I saw
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10792784/
apoptotic cell death in granulomatous inflammation induced by intravenous challenge with Cryptococcus neoformans and bacillus Calmette-Guérin vaccine

2/2 ImageImageImageImage
@BrownJHM @Radiopaedia BCG reminded me of mycolactone & thus TB, & in the initial case a bird was mentioned, so before I shut the browser, I searched Google Scholar
Tuberculosis Cryptococcus bird

Lots of interesting reading.

3/3 Image
Read 6 tweets
Mar 13, 2020
@anish_koka “Why are the elderly more affected?” seems both obvious/dumb & subtle/important.

How do their diagnostics compare to those less affected?
Growth factors, calcitriol, XO, Uric acid, IFN-gamma, IDO, status of kynurenic pathway, BDNF, mir-206, neopterin, lactate dehydrogenase
@anish_koka What is observed for people with latent tuberculosis infection after they have been exposed to SARS-CoV-2? On average, did their co-infection help or hurt? Why?

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/28779…

So many questions I wish I could ask an expert.
“Wash your hands” is true, but wearing thin.
Read 6 tweets

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