r levels of anti-?-casein and anti-?-lactoglobulin IgG and IgA antibodies. These results indicate an active immune response occurs in Behcet's disease with an increased frequency of antibodies to cow's milk protein
There is an increasing awareness that consumption of cow's milk early in life may constitute a risk factor for autoimmune disease such as multiple sclerosis, mild rheumatoid arthritis in rabbits, and type 1 diabetes, and may also be a factor in the etiology of Behcet's disease (Triolo et al 459). The researchers suggest that cow's milk components may exert detrimental effects on the gut or on systemic immunoreactivity leading to a disturbed peripheral tolerance mechanism or enhanced susceptibility to viral infections (461). A diet rich in cow's milk may provide antigens that elicit an immune response that cross reacts with self, overcoming self tolerance. Mimicry of the peptides could be available through intestinal flora, such as the heat shock proteins that have high relevance in the pathogenesis of Behcet's disease.
The epidemiology of the disease is also still a mystery, with an association with HLA-B5 reported in some parts of the world and in some family clusters, with occurrence rate estimates ranging from a low of 0.6/100,000 in England to 7-8.5/100,000 in Japan to 370/100,000 in Turkey. The disease appears to be more common between latitudes of 300 N and 450 N in Asian and Eurasian populations, which coincides with the old Silk Road.
Diagnosis of Behcet's disease is difficult in the early stages of the disease before the appearance of aphthous lesions and for individual atypical forms of the disease (Wechsler and Piette 1200). Aphthous ulcers are very common and not necessarily diagnostic of Behcet's disease. Gastrointestinal
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