Galectin-3 Microenvironments: The Hidden Driver of Chronic Inflammation

Welcome to the Gordon Medical Forum. Chronic inflammation doesn't happen by accident, and Galectin-3 may be a hidden culprit. In this episode, Ruby Tishoff and Dr. Eric Gordon explore how this protein promotes fibrosis and disease progression and the natural strategies that can help restore balance. Thank you for joining us. And here's Dr. Eric Gordon. and Ruby Tishoff. Welcome everyone. Today I'm joined by Ruby Tishoff and Ruby is a functional nutritional practitioner.

of over 25 years, and I've known her for a while, and great respect for the work that she does and the knowledge that she's accumulated over the years. Today, we are going to be talking about inflammation. something we talk about a lot. And we're going to be talking about it in regards to galactin-3 inflammation and how it works throughout our structure, how it actually begins to change how the body's put together.

So welcome, Ruby. Glad to have you with us. Thank you so much, Dr. Gordon. It's so good to be here. Pleasure. And so we think of the immune system as going around protecting us and keeping us safe. But we don't usually think about how really, if it stays turned on, affects the structure, affects how the cells are put together and how they communicate. Let's start there. Tell me a little bit how Galactin-3 is interacting with the cells on that level. Absolutely.

Inflammation, it's an immune response, but when it becomes chronic, it can progress to fibrosis. which is the hardening of organs and tissues essentially, and leads to tissue remodeling and loss of organ function and organ failure really. And so galactin-3 is a protein at the headwaters of this inflammatory cascade. It's really considered an alarming in that it gets activated in response to stress or injury or infection.

body senses a threat, galactin-3 is activated initially and it spurs the downstream cytokine cascade in activating all the inflammatory ligands, all the inflammatory cytokines to these areas that... repair, essentially. But what happens is that these signals tend to stay on. The alarm tends to stay on because, as we know, we're exposed to constant stress, toxins, immune...

So it's as if the alarm system just can't turn off because of the exposure, the environmental exposure, the psychological stress that we're under, what have you. And that galactin-3 signaling just continues. leads to, as shown now in tens of thousands of studies, really driving critical organ failure, our most serious health conditions, including cancer, and it creates these micro-environments. The galactin-3 forms...

these lattice formations that really are the backbone of the biofilm structures in the body and of these fibrotic structures, these fibrotic areas of organs and in the body, these microenvironments. They call Galactin-3 the guardian of the tumor. microenvironment because it forms these structures that shield the cancer and shield the tumor, essentially, while also allowing it to create angiogenesis, blood vessel growth to the tumors that create metastasis.

you know, invade other organs, essentially. But these structures formed by galactin-3, these microenvironments, can form anywhere in the body where there's inflammation, chronic inflammation, and a lack of circulation. So it can be around... areas of joint dysfunction or other areas where there's

essentially genetic weak links. But it's really, when we're talking about the brain and nervous system, there's a lot of data there showing how golectin-3 activates this microglial inflammation, this microglial activation, and really spurs neuroinflammation leading to downstream a number of our most critical neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Huntington's disease, and many others.

So it's really at that sort of driving headwaters at the top of the stream, essentially, in terms of forming these pathogenic structures in the body that allow. areas to fester, essentially. You don't get the immune support there. You don't get the circulation support, the neurological support. It's walling off these areas. And Dr. Elias speaks to this in his book, The Survival Paradox, talking about how galactin-3...

is really sort of being hijacked by these other pathogens, cancer cells, etc., and forming these microenvironments that allow these other pathogenic processes in these pathogens to really flourish. And it's, you know, supposed to be this... that is a signaling molecule to help us repair, but it's really in this extreme state sort of turning against us and allowing these pathogenic processes to really take over.

Right. I guess this is something we see often when the body's attempt to protect us, instead of being an acute process, turning on and turning off is not turning off. And I think what's interesting here where you're... What you're talking about is that it's the persistent exposure to...

we say it every day here in this forum, to the toxins in the environment that are often triggering this. But I guess we can also be seeing it in our patients who have persistent low-level inflammation that's often part of the... chronic complex illness world where the cell danger response hasn't gone through its completion cycle. And galactin-3 is one of those chemicals that, because it's not being turned on, is...

continue to change the microenvironment and that allows other downstream problems to happen. So love to hear more about the process. You know, how is this, what's happening on the molecular level? Absolutely. Well, you mentioned toxins, Dr. Gordon, and golectin-3 is shown in published research to be elevated in response to toxic burden in the body. It's shown to be higher in people with heavy metal exposure and heavy metal body burden, including cad.

me out. Glyctin-3 levels are shown to be higher in people with mycotoxin exposure and quote-unquote sick building or damp building syndrome or black mold exposure. So we know that when we're exposed to toxins, this Alarmin protein, glyctin-3, is getting...

elevated and spurring these downstream cytokine activities and cascades that are then leading to this organ dysfunction, organ failure, or essentially whatever the weak links that we may be experiencing genetically. It's kind of like... really at the crux of that interplay between environment and genetics.

And so where that galactin-3 expression is going to be seen clinically is really based on where the patient's weak links are genetically, essentially. But when we're talking about the nervous system... You know, galactin 3 levels are shown to be elevated in the brains, in the cerebral spinal fluid. and the plasma of Alzheimer's disease patients, and it's shown to contribute to that Alzheimer's plaque toxicity and promote further accumulation of the amyloid beta protein.

inhibiting galactin-3 can really reduce that amyloid beta burden and improve cognitive function. And there's some very exciting research coming out now with pharmaceutical galactin-3 inhibitors showing that, as well as supplemental. And we're talking about Parkinson's disease I mentioned earlier.

Galactin-3 is shown to drive that microglial activation and the neuroinflammatory response and leads to the loss of the dopaminergic neurons, and elevated galactin-3 levels correlate with Parkinson's disease severity. multiple sclerosis. It's involved in driving that pro-inflammatory cytokine profile, and those high galactin-3 levels can really worsen neurodegeneration in MS lesions. So it's very highly implicated there as well.

Talking about Huntington's disease, plasma levels and brain levels of galactin-3 are elevated here, and it's sustaining that inflammatory response and promoting the assembly of the NLRP inflammasone, and that's the protein, the multi-protein. complex that's highly involved in inflammation. So it's assembling these other downstream protein complexes that drive further inflammation and further tissue damage. When we're talking about post-stroke injury, galactin-3 plays a huge role in driving that.

brain damage following a stroke, whether it's ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke. So there's a lot of data there showing that glyptin-3 really drives that loss of neurons, that neuronal death following a stroke, and increases the neuroinflation. inflammation, leading to, again, that pro-inflammatory cytokine state in the brain. It's shown to upregulate MMP9, which contributes to leaky brain, essentially.

blood-brain barrier disruption. And so high levels of galactin-3 really degrade the blood-brain barrier, allow toxins and pathogens in, and really associated with that neurological impairment. So a lot going on there with galactin-3. and the brain, and the nervous system. And we see time and again, blocking and inhibiting galactin-3 leads to significant improvements in cognitive function, neurological function, reduced neurological pain, improved memory.

call and many other areas. Yeah. So once again, I think what is so important about what you're saying is how, you know, we're all have pretty much the same exposures and it's, you know, the genetic and... probably our genetics, and I guess our particular exposures that set us up for these different illnesses. But the inflammatory process, the basic inflammatory process happening in the body...

through all of these is our immune system. And we can, looking at colectin-3, we can find, you know, something that we can just try to downregulate.

Because the nice part is the kind of chemical that, you know, we can't, especially when we're using natural things, we can't suppress. We're not going to hurt ourselves by keeping it low. And we might... be able to dampen this unnecessary and over-aggressive immune response that just doesn't shut off. Absolutely. So as you've given examples of these really clear-cut disease states and...

The good news and the bad news of people with chronic illness is that they often have these symptom states that don't quite fit any of these diseases. I mean, many of the people we've seen have been initially diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. You know, after a while, people go, well, you don't really have MS. You know, you sort of have maybe a little something like it. And the same thing with, you know, we see many people with quote-unquote atypical Parkinson's disease where the...

progression doesn't match or the symptoms don't quite match, but there's pieces of it. And so it just goes to show that there are many illnesses that people are prone to that don't fit into boxes. but we can use the therapies that have been developed to modulate our immune response and quiet. and perhaps more importantly, even prevent progression to these things that can be recognized as quote-unquote diseases. So when you're...

talking about the inflammatory response and using, you know, they said lots of us, you know, we use Pectosol. How have you seen the dosing of Pectosol? be used in people with low-level persistent inflammatory illnesses and also just for general health, just to lower the load. Absolutely, yeah.

The research form of modified citrus pectin that you mentioned is a very well-researched golectin-3 inhibitor and has been used clinically for now 30 years and has over 100 published studies on it showing its ability to modulate golectin. and three activity in a number of areas, critical areas of health.

Dosing is really individualized based on the person and sort of what they're looking to solve. But in general, that clinically relevant dose that's been used in the clinical, the published clinical studies on this modified citrus pectin is 15. grams a day. And if you're taking that in a powder, that's three scoops, essentially.

Or as capsules, that would be 18 capsules per day. And that's like the high clinically relevant kind of powerhouse dose. And we, you know, especially for sensitive folks, don't recommend starting with that high dose because... You want to build up slowly and you want to get your body used to it. It is a fiber. And especially for very sensitive folks, low and slow is the way to go. So while that 15 grams dose is that real maximum.

benefit dose it's best to start out with like a five gram dose and titrate up as tolerated just to check and see if you're having any gut sensitivity to the fiber or any sort of detox reactions because as we said golectin-3 forms the backbone biofilm structures. So this form of researched modified citrus pectin is seen as a mild biofilm disruptor, not a heavy one like lumbrokinese that's kind of going to go in and blast up biofilms, but it's a gentler one that can take a little bit of time.

to work against biofilms, but can sometimes in very sensitive folks produce a bit of a detox reaction in terms of you're mobilized, you know, you're mobilizing toxins, you are breaking up the biofilm structure. So sometimes very folks will see a bit of detox reaction. Now, what's really, really interesting and important about this specific modified citrus pectin is that it's actually used clinically as a way to reduce detox reactions and reduce the Herxomer reaction, which...

I'm sure your patients are well familiar with in terms of, you know, the die-off reaction when you're treating any sort of pathogens or any sort of detox quote-unquote crisis. And this form of modified citrospectin really helps to tamp down that. inflammatory overreaction because of its ability to block and inhibit galactin-3. And galactin-3 really is at that headwaters cascade of that Herxheimer reaction. We've shown in studies that galactin-3 can really drive that activity.

allow the lipopolysaccharide toxins from the die-off to enter into cells. So it shuttles LPS toxins into the cells, past the cell membrane. So it's very much problematic in these Herxomer-type reactions because it's driving up that inflammatory. reactivity and that immune reactivity. And so this modified citrus pectin helps to not only tamp down that aspect, but it's also a very effective binder to absorb into the circulation and has been shown in clinical research to

remove toxins such as heavy metals, lead, mercury, arsenic, cadmium. It's also shown anecdotally from many practitioners to remove mycotoxins. It's shown also to help remove radioactive elements in clinical data. So it's a very broad spectrum.

gentle yet highly effective detox agent does not strip essential minerals and nutrients, which is really important when we're talking about binders, but it has this dual activity of helping to tamp down that galactin-3 over-reactivity, over-immune reactivity. over-inflammatory reactivity and also helping to detox the system of those toxins that are driving up that inflammation. So it's really helping across the board to provide a much smoother detox experience and really help to remediate.

the damage toxins are doing to the body. Well, that makes it a very, very useful adjunct on lots of levels because, you know, going back is what, you know, you just gone, you know, almost every... inflammatory step that you talked about is all things that we often measure and see in people with chronic complex illness. Because I say it's all part of this immune response that doesn't...

tamp down like it's supposed to, it doesn't quiet down. So, and we have very few things that are able to act across such a broad array of reactions in the body, you know, so tamping down galactin-3. and also binding. I think that's a really, really important aspect of this. And the go slow part is always a good idea because anytime your body is reactive, if you change things too quickly, it's not going to go well.

So at this point, you know, I mean, we can see clinically that this is really useful for almost anybody, depending on, you know, exposure and levels of exposure and depending on your body reactivity, whether you need little bit. just as an ongoing good detox and preventive, or if you're actually treating an inflammatory situation. But lots of times people want to be...

testing for Galactin-3. And sometimes, you know, I know for myself, when you just measured at LabCorp, you're not always seeing... is what I would expect to see in that situation. So can you talk a little bit about how we can measure galactin-3 and how useful a marker it really is? Absolutely, yes. So as you mentioned, the test is available through LabCorp.

And there are some nuances when interpreting the test because one of the things that the test does not distinguish is the difference between a single galactin-3 protein, a monomer, and the five-sided pentamer that... It forms when five single monomers stick together and form these. And this is the basis of these fibrotic structures, very sticky molecule, and it's sticking to itself and sticking to other ligands and forming these hyperbiscus structures.

For one, the blood test isn't going to differentiate between that single and that five-sided. So essentially, your patients could be five times higher of a galactin-3 load than what the test is showing. The other thing it doesn't distinguish between is... bound Galactin-3 that is bound by the research form of modified citrus pectin and so therefore not causing problems, not signaling and soon to be excreted versus the active and free Galactin-3 that is signaling and causing problems.

both of those the same. So if the patient is taking modified citrus pectin or another golectin-3 inhibitor, there are some that are in pharmaceutical development currently only available for compassionate use. But if they are on any of these inhibitors, then the blood test may... not show that those levels are low yet while that galactin-3 that's bound is being excreted. The other thing to think about is that oftentimes these levels are much higher in the tissues where there's a problem.

tumor microenvironment, an area of, you know, organ dysfunction, an area of high inflammation, for example. So it's not going to measure those high levels that are in the tissue, and the levels in the blood might be lower because galactin-3 is...

activities really going on in the tissues and sort of sequestered in that area. So those are some of the nuances to keep in mind when you're testing. Now, a lot of practitioners will use the test as a baseline because they know that when those levels go high. that their patients...

conditions are progressing. Additionally, if levels are very high and there's no symptoms or the patient doesn't have any sort of diagnosis yet, it's really a justification for deeper diagnostics to find out what's really going on and what's driving. those levels high, because as we know, patients can feel great.

And they'll be in sort of a compensatory state until, you know, something tips that scale. And then all of a sudden, you know, they've had a sneaking or sleeping diagnosis that's been festering all along.

before you know it. Once it's diagnosed, it's in an advanced stage. So something to think about there when there's a high level and nothing else seems to be going on, it's really something to look deeper into. So those are just some of the things to think about when using the test. The test is...

very inexpensive and it's available through LabCorp and I believe other labs as well are starting to offer it. And I'm hoping that there will be an advancement to the test where at least it's able to differentiate between that monomer and that pentamer, the five-sided pentamer.

to give a better reflection there of the actual levels. Stay with us. We'll be right back. The Gordon Medical Forum is now online. Join us for events. workshops, and webinars with medicine's most innovative minds, giving you exclusive access to groundbreaking conversations, insights, and solutions from leading pioneers in chronic illness treatment.

Learn more at GordonMedicalForum.com Yeah, I'm sure it'll be coming because there's so much more interest in the general, in what I call the conventional medical research community on galactin-3 and its many roles in the inflammatory cascade. Yeah, testing will be improving, I'm sure. But I think what's exciting to me is, you know, we've used this for years, but I always just have to keep reminding myself on it, you know, how useful it is as...

you know, a binder as something to lower galactin 3. And the idea that, you know, because there's so much inflammation in the gut these days. I think that's one of the things that we've seen. Oh, in the past, we used to think, well, if people are asymptomatic, then their guts were, you know, that there wasn't going to be a lot of inflammation coming from the gut. But I don't believe that anymore because I see so many people who are...

They don't complain about their guts, but it is clear when we dig deeper that we see lots of evidence for high levels of LPS, for instance, and the things we can measure that are floating around. Between glyphosate and all the other toxins in the diet these days, I think there's a lot more low-level inflammatory signals than having pectosol on board. Sounds like just a good backup policy, a good insurance policy to keep, like you say, to keep this from becoming symptomatic.

Absolutely. And the body is very sophisticated, so you will be asymptomatic when these areas are being walled off. for a certain amount of time until that galactin-3 level and that inflammatory level really sort of breaks out of its sequestering and reaches something, you know, more critical such as the brain or other areas where you are going to feel those symptoms.

So really, and also kind of ties back to what you're saying about the mystery conditions where certain patients don't fit, you know, that full profile of a condition yet. addressing galactin-3 is still a valid clinical strategy. And so when you look at the published literature, you'll find that almost any inflammatory condition has a study linking it to excess galactin-3 activity.

Whether you want to put whichever label, diagnostic label on it, that's sort of, you know, up to the discretion of the practitioner and the patient as well. Addressing these root causes, these elevated galactin-3 levels and the cytokine cascade that's really kind of across the board in these inflammatory conditions is bringing dramatic clinical results. So it just really goes back to...

What are we really... working on a cellular level when we're working on restoring health and these diagnoses are oftentimes, I've heard practitioners say this, they're oftentimes not helpful for a patient to label themselves with a certain diagnosis because often that can become

of like an identification and really make it difficult to break free and find that full healing. But I think when we are addressing these very fundamental processes and kind of breaking away from the labels, we're able to see a lot more success clinically. Well, it keeps coming back.

Yeah, I say low-level persistent toxicity. You know, sometimes with high levels thrown in, and that really causes the trouble or causes the symptom. Because for many years, you know, we focused on the bugs as being the trouble. triggers and they often are what makes the final noise. But it's, you know, looking back and just watching how effective it can be to lower toxic load.

and gently modulate the inflammatory overreactivity down. And then the immune system often is able to just... be more effective and do what it needs to do because, you know, galactin-3 being a just really important part of that modulated immune response, if we can just keep it modulated. I think we will all do a lot better. And you talked earlier about something that was very interesting about.

part of the galactin-3 making a part of the matrix of biofilm and how we want to be a little careful as we break that down not to cause the immune system to suddenly start attacking things. But it's just another example of how the immune system is working to protect us. And if we can just keep it from going over time, we're all going to be a lot better off. Absolutely.

In your experience, because I said you spent a lot of time working with patients and working with Dr. Elias, going back to things like mood disorders, what have you seen there? Yeah, well, the research shows a really significant link with elevated galactin-3 and high cortisol levels, elevated galactin-3 in cases of significant clinical depression, and even in learning disabilities.

such as dyslexia, they're finding high levels of galactin-3. And so we know that it's spurring inflammation in the nervous system, and we know that inflammation is linked to mood disorders. Now, what's fascinating is that there's data showing that... even just a short meditation practice can lower Galactin-3 levels within minutes. And those benefits become stronger and faster acting with...

practice. So over time, you know, first meditation session, you'll get some reduction. And then over time, six to eight weeks later, you're going to see a much more dramatic and significant reduction in levels and a faster rate with that meditation practice and doesn't have to necessarily.

meditation, other relaxation and mindfulness-based activities have been studied as well, such as just listening to relaxing music. So finding that mode that works for you to really calm the nervous system with mindfulness activities. can really have a wonderful benefit in reducing galactin-3 activity and supporting, as they've shown in extensive published research.

better mental health, reduced anxiety, reduced depression, better brain function, et cetera. So it's definitely correlated there. And we hear a lot from folks that are taking the modified citrus pectin, how much better they feel mentally, how much more mental.

energy they have, the vitality. Somebody commented recently, joyfully doing tasks that they'd put off for, you know, 15 years or something like that. So it's a wonderful effect on the nervous system that you really can feel when you start to address that Colectin 3x. activity. I love that. What I'm really loving about what you're saying is how we can see the, it's not even yin and yang, it's just the different approaches that are all lead to healing.

do about, I don't know, probably close to 25% of the talks that we have are with people who are working on different ways for the body to relax, different ways to get in touch with your heart and your inner self. And I just love how this... I mean, what Ruby just described is just beautiful, is that, yes, you can take pectosol and lower your galactin-3, and you can breathe and relax and lower your galactin-3 because it's one system and you can address it.

from multiple ways and it's really nice probably get a little more benefit when you put them together but it's just so important important to not get stuck on any one path because the more ways that you can whisper and talk to your body and let it know that it is safe, it's going to be helpful. So what you put in... And what you feel and think and breathe, it's all going to make a difference in just...

a little more peace and less inflammation, which is going to be less discomfort, less pain, an immune system that works better. Just amazing. I just love that when we can get that across at one time. Too often we're talking about just biochemistry or just relaxation or mind-body techniques. So thank you, Ruby, for wetting that so nicely.

Yeah, absolutely. As you said, it's really part of a holistic system. And we're not just our parts and these little pieces, you know, and everything is a symphony, an orchestra working together. And it's incredible, really, that, you know, we're here and we're alive. the beauty of that harmony and we can really enhance it with these research modalities and support. So it's very exciting to see that momentum in the literature and clinically as well.

Yeah, and I know we keep mentioning the literature because, I mean, Galectin-3 really does have a tremendous amount of literature. And I think I spoke with Dr. Elias earlier this year, and we were... Talking about his work with using a special filtering device, very near and dear to my heart, that removes lectin-3 and is going to be used for treatments in critically ill patients.

It really is an amazing process. So any place that people can find out more information about Golectin-3 and Pectosol? I highly recommend Dr. Elias' book, The Survival Paradox. That's an amazing book that is a wonderful read that really outlines the whole research behind Golectin-3 and the modified citrus pectin and really gives some amazing clinical anecdotes. So it's very compelling. It's not dry science by any means. It's very readable and just really gives a deep dive into that area.

And then, of course, econogenics.com is the manufacturer of pectosol, the original and only researched form of modified citrus pectin that's recognized as the most researched galactin-3 inhibitor. Thank you. As I said, a great download of how important Galactin-3 is to our immune system when it's doing good for us and when it keeps overdoing and not doing so good for us and how we can modulate that.

So thank you for your time. Thank you so much, Dr. Gordon. It's my pleasure. And that's a wrap for today's episode. We hope you enjoyed the conversation as much as we did. We love hearing from our listeners. And one of the best ways to show your support is by leaving us a review on your favorite podcast platform.