i think there are a number of seemingly elegant theories out there that attempt to explain chronic illness - like lyme, CFS, fibromyalgia, etc etc often in highly internally consistent ways.
but most of them are exactly that - theories that lack real solid mechanistic proof they are the actual real world explanation.
in many cases there are just a enough hints or partial evidence to deem them credible and coax us down the rabbit hole - and our confirmation bias wiring - plus our desperate hope for a single clear answer - takes off from there joining all the dots and failing to flag the disconfirming points quite as readily - and bingo - 3hrs later we are pretty much convinced its the real thing "the Answer".
most of us who have been at this for some years recognise this pattern by now
my Glutathione markers and vitamin C markers were both v near zero on an OAT test also
this actually makes perfect sense as these are all part of the pyramid of antioxidants
glutathione is the main antioxidant used to mop us free radicals from energy production
vitamin C is used to regenerate glutathione and so on
but i am not sure we actually need the Naviaux CDR theory to explain low antioxidant status in chronic infections
after all any form of oxidative stress from free radicals or from inflammation generally will use up these antioxidants
examples:
intracellular infections cause inflammation that damage mitochondria directly
damaged mitochondria produce way more free radicals - helping to perpetuate the cycle
infections will cause the release of lots of free radicals via immune activity they trigger throughout the body
competing theories are
Dr Bruce Patterson's published papers on a subset of white blood cells that carry on presenting pathogens antigens on their surface for years after initial infection ( eg in long covid ) triggering inflammation in the blood vessels and an inflammatory cascade
Dr J's theory that immune suppression is the real problem - due to overall build-up of pathogen load and biofilms and their chronic immune disruptive effects - leading to both a chronic inflammatory state - and at the same time immune suppression so the host cannot clear the infection
there are several others
its like the analogy - 4 men and an elephant in a dark room - each reach out and feel a different part of the animal - belly, trunk, ear etc and each believe they know exactly what an elephant looks like
https://scottishinsight.blog/2017/09/20/elephant/