Is there a benefit from Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN) for people with MCAS, IBS-C, SIBO, and SIFO?
I definitely use LDN with all those conditions. Obviously, I won't say any more about MCAS. IBS-C and IBS-M I think are really helpful. With these conditions you can get dysbiosis and you can get damage to the gut lining and increase intestinal permeability.
When you do so, food toxins can come into the lining and activate the inflammatory cells that are associated with this. I mean, just looking at a slide deck for a drug, Rifaximin, they show a little cartoon of the mast cells and T cells in the subcutaneous tissue of the lining of the intestine.
And basically, if we can get the LDN to decrease the inflammation, then that inflammation will result in that lowered inflammation will decrease the sensitization and the abdominal pain of IBS. And then if we can get LDN to tighten up on the junctions, the tight junctions, then we'll have less SIFO and SIBO.