Murky Water: Cyanobacteria, BMAA and ALS - Murky Water: Cyanobacteria, BMAA and ALS - Open Access Pub

Cyanobacteria have been implicated in the etiology of ALS for the past 50 years. The weakness of the theories of cyanobacteria or its neurotoxin, BMAA as the etiologic agent in ALS is the iniquitousness of cyanobacteria in the environment. In third world countries, clean water is far from commonplace, the exposure to cyanobacteria higher, yet the incidence of ALS is probably less than it is in developed countries. Even in the developed world, exposure to cyanobacteria is commonplace. Differences in the gut microbiome, possibly the presence of Proteobacteria, a protective agent against cyanobacteria toxins, may be important. DOI 10.14302/issn.2470-5020.jnrt-16-1293 Exposure to Cyanobacteria and/or its toxin, BMAA is commonplace by adulthood in virtually all adults. The occurrence of ALS is a function of genetic susceptibility, changes due to aging and the possible alterations in the gut microbiome. Proteobacteria may be protective. High incidence of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) occurred among the Chamorro natives in Guam back in the 1940s and 1950s, leading scientists to link cyanobacteria and one of its neurotoxin, beta-N-methyl amino-L-alanine (BMAA) to ALS. Subsequent findings of the regular biosynthesis of BMAA in the Baltic Sea combined with its possible transfer and bioaccumulation within major food webs, some ending in human consumption, has been alarming 1. A prevailing theory has been that long term, chronic exposure to low levels of BMAA through the environment, in areas with algae blooms, occurs through biomagnification which might cause ALS in genetically predisposed individuals. Recent studies from Scandinavia have been far less supportive, finding limited evidence for the theory among retail coastal seafood. BMAA was identified in blue mussel, oyster, shrimp, plaice, char and herring, but was undetectable in other samples (salmon, cod, perch and crayfish) casting doubt on biomagnification in many seafood networks humans eat 2. Others are more skeptical of any cyanobacteria or BMAA connection and believe poor reporting and analysis and prolific errors have weakened the research 3. Yet, research from plausible, rational studies showing a possible link have been published in credible journals. The unrecognized weakness of the cyanobacteria theory is the “dirty water” problem. Throughout most of time and now in many parts of the world, clean water hasn’t existed. People drank water contaminated with many things, including cyanobacteria, for millennia. In the clearest pool of water along the stream, the blue green algae lurks. Purified