There are many common diseases where the inflammatory cytokine called Interleukin 17 (IL-17) is activated. In healthy people, IL-17 is typically undetectable when tested for, but inflammatory diseases often show that IL-17 is activated and at elevated levels.
IL-17 does have a purpose in the body as part of the body's defense system, but like other inflammatory mediators, chronic activation is neither good nor healthful.
It is important to remember that IL-17 is fairly high up in the inflammatory cascade, and reducing it can cause a reduction in many of the inflammatory mediators and inflammatory pathways that are below IL-17 in the inflammatory cascade. This is important to be aware of in treating inflammatory diseases where IL-17 is chronically activated. IL-17 is secreted by TH-17 cells along with other inflammatory mediators such as IL-21, IL-22, and IL-23. Some of these other inflammatory mediators that become active are:
This review discusses IL-17 at length to give a better idea of what IL-17 does in the body.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4171672/
Here are two important quotes from the review :
>>>' Recent studies support the notion that deregulated production of IL-17 and IL-21, cytokines produced by Th17 cells, may participate in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases. ' <<<
>>> ' No patients reported any drug-related adverse events; therefore, the safety profile of thiamine administration was excellent at 200 mg daily in this small pilot group. ' <<<
So all of these inflammatory mediators, when combined with IL-17, produce a very robust inflammatory response that seems to help fuel the progression of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.
Here is a partial list of diseases where IL-17 is known to be activated and play a role in the disease process:
This list helps define the importance of controlling chronic activation of IL-17.
Okay, so now that we know that chronic activation of IL-17 via secretion by TH-17 cells is very likely to cause or worsen multiple health issues, what do we do about it?
The objective should be to limit TH-17 secretion of IL-17, and melatonin is known to do this. Still, we need something that works relatively quickly, is easy to get, has a very good safety profile, is highly potent at limiting TH-17 secretion of IL-17, and will not bankrupt you to try and rein in TH-17 secretion of IL-17.
Given those criteria above, this rules out pharmaceuticals that either potently inhibits or binds IL-17 as they are incredibly costly. One of the newer IL-17 binders, Secukinumab, which is sold under the drug name Cosentyx, costs about $6,000 per month without insurance or discount!
The following new study from March 2021 below shows for the first time that Thiamine, also known as vitamin B1, is a potent inhibitor (four-fold inhibition) of IL-17 and, of course, the other inflammatory cytokines that are also released right along with IL-17!
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7960760/
Here is a quote from the study:
>>> ' IL-17 concentrations were below the level of detection in the HV (Healthy Volunteers) group but were elevated in the DC (Disease Control) group (Figure 1A). An approximate four-fold decrease was observed in the IL-17 concentration levels (0.09 pg/ml to 0.023 pg/ml) with a treatment dose of 200 mg thiamine daily (Estimated AUC = 204 nmol/L x hour approximately in the 10-h window) by the end of week 3. ' <<<
In yet another study, it is suggested that Thiamine may act to prevent Alzheimer's Disease:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8319660/
Here is a very important quote from the study :
>>> ' Providing a thiamine supplement to elderly persons who still have normal cognition but who have deposition of either amyloid or tau may prevent subsequent cognitive loss and eventual dementia. ' <<<
In this 2020 study, they discuss how IL-17A is a major contributing factor in neurodegenerative diseases.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7550684/
Here is a relevant quote from the study :
>>> ' IL-17A is a signature of a key T helper cell population, and evidence suggests a crucial role for IL-17A in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases and neurodegenerative diseases. The function of IL-17A has been proven to be varied as it contributes to pathogenic inflammation and induces innate-like acute immune defenses. Thus, IL-17A is not simply an inflammatory factor. '<<<
Now we know that Thiamine (Vitamin B1) at just 200 mg daily in two divided doses of 100 mg each can cause a very significant reduction of IL-17 by fourfold in just three weeks and you won't have to pay $6,000 a month to do it!
You also won't have to risk getting the side effects associated with Secukinumab/ Cosentyx as outlined here:
Call your doctor at once if you have:
Common Cosentyx side effects may include:
This is not a complete list of side effects, and others may occur. Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects.
Source: https://www.drugs.com/cosentyx.html
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You can view a list of potential side effects here:
https://www.drugs.com/sfx/thiamine-side-effects.html
It is worth mentioning that Thiamine is likely to offer other health benefits because it is so active in many body functions.
It is also interesting that Thiamine has shown benefit in many of the diseases mentioned above, such as Parkinson's Disease, Diabetes, Alzheimer's Disease, Covid-19, Psoriasis, Wernicke's Encephalopathy, Irritable Bowel Disease, and Arthritis. This tends to confirm the idea that lowering IL-17 toward the values seen in the healthy volunteers (undetectable) is a valuable health endeavor.
In this study, they used a total of 200 mg per day of Thiamine in divided doses of 100 mg each dose for just three weeks. I want to mention that in this study, they determined how much of a dose to be used based on a dosing model that they created just for this study. They didn't cover this in the study.
Still, since it was not a model that had been previously tested, there is the possibility that using Thiamine for a longer period than 3 weeks may have lowered TH-17 even more or 200 mg/day may not have been the optimal dose for lowering IL-17.
