Can glyphosate’s disruption of the gut microbiome and induction of sulfate deficiency explain the epidemic in gout and associated diseases in the industrialized world?

Gout is an acute or chronic inflammatory disease characterized by intense pain, redness and swelling in joints, mainly the metatarsophalangeal joint.Gout is linked to an increased risk of diabetes and heart disease.The traditional medical view holds that high dietary purines, fructose and alcohol are key causal factors.However, this does not explain the entirety of the pathophysiology.In this paper, we review the literature on gout and propose a functional rôle for the inflammatory signaling cascade to restore vascular health.Our findings suggest that the primary factor behind the recent gout epidemic is dietary glyphosate, with iron overload and fungus overgrowth as secondary contributing factors.The increase in gout prevalence in the United Kingdom correlates well with both diabetes prevalence and the use of glyphosate in agriculture.The activities that take place in the gouty joint are directed towards renewing sulfate supplies to the immune cells and to the vasculature.Dangerously high serum viscosity impairs vascular sulfate synthesis, promoting crystal formation and immune cell infiltration into the joint, provoking a gout attack.The resulting complex signaling cascade leads to hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S) synthesis, release of ATP and reactive oxygen, and activation of enzymes that oxidize H 2 S to sulfate, eventually restoring sulfate supplies to the macrophages invading the synovial fluid.We urge that government regulators reassess the toxicity of glyphosate to humans.