title: Alternative cellular energy pigments mistaken for parasitic skin infestations.
abstract: Dermatologists and psychiatrists occasionally encounter patients who believe they are infested with skin parasites. They may report seeing threads, fibers and more solid appearing particles attached to their skin and hair, or appearing on clean bed sheets after sleeping. Some of the particles move spontaneously suggesting a life form. Similar structures develop in long-term cultures of stealth-adapted viruses. They are termed alternative cellular energy pigments (ACE pigments) since they appear to provide a non-mitochondria source of cellular energy that can assist in cellular repair from the virus cytopathic effect (CPE). Particles obtained from the skin of stealth virus culture-positive patients can also display auto-fluorescence and electrostatic properties. Some of the particles are magnetic and can generate gas in an aqueous solution. They also lead to the production of lipid-like crystals similar to those produced in long-term cultures of stealth-adapted viruses. It is proposed that skin-derived particles that form in some of the patients assumed to be experiencing a delusional parasitosis are, in reality, a reflection of the body's production of ACE pigments.
authors.affiliation: Center for Complex Infectious Diseases, 3328 Stevens Avenue, Rosemead, CA 91770, USA. s3support@email.com
authors.forename: W John
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Martin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003702:Delusions; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D003951:Diagnostic Errors; D005453:Fluorescence; D006801:Humans; D008280:Magnetics; D010860:Pigments, Biological / Q000737:chemistry*; D012867:Skin / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D012876:Skin Diseases, Parasitic / Q000175:diagnosis*
chemical_list: D010860:Pigments, Biological