Cell Wall Deficient Bacteria (CWDBs)

Cell wall deficient bacteria – germs in disguise

By the end of the 19^th century, the founder of the science of bacteriology, Dr Robert Koch, had determined that every type of bacteria had its own unique immutable form and caused its own specific illness.

His ideas have been universally accepted as being true. Even up to the present day, his ideas are used as an important knowledge base for medical science. Koch’s work of identifying the different bacterial agents behind specific diseases has been the basis for treating patients suffering from these diseases for more than one hundred years. However, some years later, various renowned microbiologists, such as L.H. Mattman, L. Dienes and G.L. Domingue suggested that our view of bacteria should not be as dogmatic as Koch lead us to believe.

These scientists discovered, described and catalogued the many and varied versions of cell wall deficient (pleiomorphic) bacteria that they had isolated during their years of research. These morphed bacteria are nothing like the rigid form as described by Koch. Not only did they discover the existence of these pleiomorphic bacterial forms, in many cases, they were also able to prove the relationship between them and Koch’s parent form of the bacteria.

• 1. What is the relevance of CWDB Research?

  Once it was clear that bacteria could be fought off by using antibiotics, the investigative work on CWDBs was considered less relevant to mainstream medical practice. After all, antibiotics were saving millions of lives worldwide and infectious diseases were on the decline. In the light of this overwhelming success in combatting infections, it was no surprise that scientific discussion about pleiomorphic bacteria, and their possible relevance and function faded away during the last century. These scientists are now gone and largely forgotten, and their potential successors have found other areas of research to delve into. In this way, the knowledge gained by research into pleiomorphic bacterial forms has fallen into disuse.

  Antibiotics have no positive effect on chronic ailments.

  In the meantime, it has become increasingly obvious that although antibiotics are wonderful drugs for acute infections, they have no healing effect in cases of chronic inflammatory diseases. The list of these ailments is enormous and includes chronic skin diseases, chronic prostatitis, auto-immune illness in general and neurological inflammations, to name but a few. Chronic inflammatory diseases cannot be directly traced back to a specific bacterial cause using standard testing. This has led to the conclusion that all these conditions are incurable and the medical answer for the health issues is the use of symptom suppressors.

• 2. Are pleiomorphic forms really bacteria?

  Fortunately, technology continues to develop and thanks to Kary Mullis (MD) a new process has been developed which now adds to the work done by Mattman and co. Previously, it was very difficult to link CWDBs with their original parent form because, unlike their parent bacteria, they cannot be cultured in normal laboratory mediums and because of their exterior lipidic membrane, they cannot be seen using normal Gram colouring. The oily exterior membrane melts when the object glass is heated above the gas flame during the colouring process. 

  There is irrefutable evidence that pleiomorphic forms are, in fact, bacteria.

  Mullis developed the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) – which exposes the original DNA in the pleiomorphic version of the bacteria and reveals them to be modified versions of their original (malignant) form. This is the irrefutable evidence that these pleiomorphic forms are in fact bacteria. {modal all-pop-ups/44-cwdb-references-1-2}[1,2].{/modal}

  We all accept that simple life forms, such as insects, go through different stages in their life cycle. For example: egg, larva, pronymph, nymph and adult forms. Bacteria are even more primitive and can have even more life cycle stages – unique to each sort – which make it possible for them to survive under even the most difficult circumstances. Some even survive pasteurisation. Using their ability to adapt, they can survive and even multiply in circumstances would kill anything other than a single-celled organism. Some of the pleiomorphic forms are significantly smaller than ‘normal’ bacteria and they can even pass through bacteria filters in laboratories, but even more worrying, they can pass through the blood-brain barrier in the human body. They can penetrate into the liquor cerebrospinalis (cerebral fluid) – a trick that normal bacteria cannot do. The most damning evidence for this capacity is the existence of various chronic brain diseases, but also neuro-borreliosis and chronic Q-fever.

  CWDBs are the ideal suspects for being the causal factor in chronic infections

  CWDBs cannot be picked up by the immune system because their lipidic membrane disguises their true nature as malignant foreign bodies. They are also unaffected by antibiotics. These two factors make them ideal candidates to be agents for causing chronic infections.

• 3. Can cell wall deficient bacteria be linked to disease?

  These organisms have other characteristics that make them peculiar. Their form is transient and under a microscope they look like oily droplets of varying sizes floating on hot soup. The thing that distinguishes one CWDB from another is not the exterior membrane, however, it is the DNA that is contains.

  As these pleiomorphic forms can be found in both healthy and sick people, Lida Mattman and her colleagues wanted to see whether or not they could possibly be pathogenic. They did all sorts of tests and experiments to check whether tissues or fluids containing CWDBs taken from people with chronic illnesses or autoimmune diseases would cause the same illness in animals injected with that material. If this were to be the case, it would prove that the injected CWDBs were in effect pathogens.

  Before using material taken from patients, it was necessary to ensure that it was sterile and so it was tested in culture medium beforehand to see if there were any bacteria present. These cultures proved to be sterile, and so the material was injected into the host. In time, the animal became ill and the postmortem tests showed the presence of specific bacteria that could be related to the illness of the original patient.

  Mattman and other scientists in her field did a large number of experiments on animals using this technique. In this way, they could link CWDBs to sarcoidosis {modal all-pop-ups/46-cwdb-literature-1-3}[1-3]{/modal}. Others showed that the CWDB for meningococcus was present in cases of meningitis in humans and even caused encephalopathy in rabbits {modal all-pop-ups/47-cwdb-literature-4}[4]{/modal}.

  Mohan and his team treated a fluid containing standard streptococcus bacteria taken from a patient using a filter for bacteria so that the fluid did not contain these bacteria anymore. Afterwards the fluid was tested for bacteria on a culture medium for streptococci and was found to be sterile according to the classical “Koch postulates” {modal all-pop-ups/48-cwdb-literature-5}[5]{/modal}. This fluid was injected into a group of rhesus monkeys. All of these animals developed pancarditis with sub-endocardial lesions. Similar tests were done on mice. In all cases the mice developed endocarditis, myocarditis and pericarditis.

  In all the above experiments, it was clear that CWDBs were also pathogens. This was an enormous breakthrough and significant departure from Koch’s idea that no illness can be transmitted when there are no classical bacteria forms present. This revolutionary step was even more important because it created the potential for a well-founded new perspective on the so-called “sterile inflammations” behind chronic disease. Namely, that CWDBs play a causal role. This is something that cannot be confirmed using standard cultures on medium in a laboratory.

  It is this perspective that has led to the new approach for dealing with the underlying cause of these chronic diseases as described on this site.