35. Understanding MARCoNS and Its Impact on Inflammation, Histamine, and Chronic Symptoms

In this episode of The Histamine Well Podcast, Joanne takes a deep dive into MARCoNS (Multiple Antibiotic Resistant Coagulase-Negative Staphylococci)—a frequently overlooked bacterial colonization that can drive chronic inflammation, histamine intolerance, and persistent, unexplained symptoms.

Joanne explains how MARCoNS colonize the nasal passages, often in the context of mould-related illness, and why these bacteria are particularly difficult to eradicate due to their ability to form protective biofilms. She explores the connection between MARCoNS and symptoms such as fatigue, brain fog, migraines, anxiety, poor detoxification, and heightened inflammatory responses, especially in individuals who don’t improve despite targeted gut or histamine protocols.

This episode walks listeners through how MARCoNS are identified, with a focus on nasal swab testing, and outlines evidence-informed treatment strategies, including biofilm disruptors, targeted herbal antimicrobials, and supportive therapies designed to reduce bacterial load and calm immune activation.

Whether you’re a health practitioner working with complex chronic cases or an individual struggling with ongoing symptoms that don’t fully resolve, this episode provides practical insight into MARCoNS as a hidden driver of inflammation and histamine dysregulation.

In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

• What MARCoNS are and how they impact the immune system
• Why MARCoNS are linked to chronic inflammation and histamine-related symptoms
• Common signs and symptoms associated with MARCoNS colonization
• How nasal swab testing is used to identify MARCoNS
• Treatment approaches including biofilm disruptors and targeted antimicrobials

Joanne discusses laboratories that provide MARCoNS (Multiple Antibiotic Resistant Coagulase-Negative Staphylococci) nasal swab testing, commonly used in clinical practice to identify bacterial colonisation linked to chronic inflammation, histamine-related symptoms, and mould-associated illness.

• Nutripath (Australia): https://nutripath.com.au/
• Microbiology Dx (USA): https://www.microbiologydx.com/

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Transcript

0:00

Hi, it's Joanne. MARCoNS are something that often fly completely under the radar, but can have a huge impact on chronic inflammation, fatigue, brain fog, histamine issues, neurological symptoms like headaches, migraines, dizziness, anxiety, and insomnia. MARCoNS are a type of bacteria that can quietly colonize the nasal passages and sinuses. They don't usually cause an acute infection, but instead create a state of chronic low grade inflammation that keeps the immune system constantly activated. So if you've been dealing with persistent symptoms that don't quite make sense or won't fully resolve, this might be an important missing piece. So stick around, because in this episode we are going to unpack what MARCoNS are, why they matter, and where you can start to investigate this potential issue for you. Welcome to the Histamine Well Podcast. Designed for practitioners and patients alike. This is your trusted source for insights on histamine intolerance, methylation, gut health, women's hormones, and much more. I'm Joanne Kennedy. Your host, naturopath, author, and educator. Passionate about breaking down complex science into clear, accessible knowledge. Whether you are a health professional or navigating your personal wellness journey, the Histamine Well Podcast bridges the gap between cutting edge research and practical understanding to empower you with the tools to thrive. Hi everyone. Welcome back to the Histamine well. Today we're talking about MARCoNS, and this has honestly been such a game changer for me in clinical practice, especially when it comes to neurological histamine symptoms. I've seen such a strong correlation between nasal issues and symptoms like headaches, migraines, anxiety, insomia, vertigo and dizziness in particular, there are also many other symptoms associated with MARCoNS, but this is how I really started to recognize their impact clinically. Well, mainly because I specialize in histamine, as you know. So in this episode, we are going to uncover what MARCoNS are, the full range of symptoms to look out for, how we test for them, their strong link to mould related illness. And what you can do to start to investigate whether this might be a piece of the puzzle for you. So what exactly are MARCoNS? MARCoNS stands for multiple antibiotic resistant coagulase negative staphylococci. It's a type of staph bacteria that colonizes the nasal passages and sinuses. Unlike acute staph infections, MARCoNS typically exist as a chronic colonizer. It forms biofilms and is resistant to common antibiotics, which makes eradication challenging. MARCoNS is frequently associated with mould related illness. And this is because exposure to mould toxins, often called mycotoxins can significantly lower melanocytes stimulating hormone. We often just call it MSH. MSH is a hormone that's made in the hypothalamus in the brain, and it acts like a master regulator for immune balance, inflammation control, mucosal integrity, hormone signaling, sleep and circadian rhythm, as well as gut and nasal lining integrity. When MSH is healthy, your body keeps inflammation under control. Protects mucosal surfaces like the sinuses and gut lining. Resists chronic infection and regulates immune tolerance. But when someone has chronic inflammation, especially from something like mycotoxins. MSH often becomes suppressed. And low mSH leads to weakened nasal and gut immune defense. Reduced antimicrobial peptide in mucosal tissue, increased vulnerability to colonization by organisms like MARCoNS in the nasal cavity, as well as ongoing immune activation without proper resolution. So low MSH creates an environment in which MARCoNS can colonize more effectively. And in this state, the nasal passages become more vulnerable to microbial persistence and biofilm formation increases. The biofilm is like a protective shield that the bacteria build around themselves. So instead of floating around on their own bacteria like MARCoNS, stick to the lining of the sinuses and create a slimy glue like matrix made from sugars, proteins, and minerals. And that matrix becomes their house. And inside they live like a community. And this biofilm does a few powerful things. It protects them from your immune system. It blocks antibiotics and natural antimicrobials. It makes them much harder to detect and eradicate. And it allows them to persist long term. So where is this link with histamine? So if something becomes so chronic and so embedded in your nasal cavity, we end up with chronic inflammation and chronic inflammation drives up histamine. Clinically, I see this all the time. Nasal issues leading to neurological histamine symptoms. It does make sense. You know, the nose is right near the brain. So we often see a really high correlation between these nasal issues and we test MARCoNS and we can see them and these persistent neurological issues. So what are all the symptoms to look for with MARCoNS? It's not just nasal symptoms. We've got chronic nasal congestion or stuffiness, postnasal drip, sinus pressure or heaviness in the head, reduced sense of smell, recurrent sinus infections that never fully resolve. Brain fog, poor concentration, memory issues, headaches or migraines, light sensitivity, persistent fatigue, feeling wide but tired, poor recovery from stress or illness. Heightened inflammation markers in your blood tests. Frequent infections. Poor response to treatments. Poor sleep quality, disrupted circadian rhythm, temperature regulation issues, body aches, mood changes, anxiety or low mood and sensitivity to chemicals mould, smells, and fragrances. So that's quite an extensive list. A lot of them, as you know, if you have mould illness or a practitioner dealing with mould, that there's a lot of crossover with systemic mould issues and the symptoms of that. So how do you know if you've got MARCoNS? Well, the good news is that you can test. So MARCoNS is tested with a simple nasal swab. That swab doesn't just look for MARCoNS bacteria. It also measures biofilm activity and often includes mould and fungal cultures. So it tells us not just what organisms are there, but how protected they are and how established they are. Also, if it does come back with mould in the nose, especially if you've got a lot of symptoms you've seen mould in your house, then often it helps us really put together a case for a mould illness and we might send you off for some organic acids testing or some mould mycotoxins testing with Dr. Shoemaker in the US who is a leading. He's a scientist researcher, I think he's also a clinician. He has a huge database of information on mould, and he got together with some of these labs and they found that something like 80% of people with MARCoNS had mould illness. So there's definitely a very high correlation and we see it clinically all the time. So in Australia, Nutripath offer MARCoNS testing. In the us. I use microbiology dx. We'll just put links to those labs in the show notes. I know that in the US and in Australia, they need me to prescribe these tests. So if you are looking for someone to help you with MARCoNS, we're absolutely here to help. We do see patients globally, so you can easily just book in an appointment via our website. We can help you with testing as well as treatment, obviously. If you're in Europe or the United Arab Emirates, uk. You will be able to get MARCoNS testing done. I would just encourage you to do a Google search or look on AI chat GPT will be really helpful for you to try and find the testing or a practitioner that could organize the testing for you. So people I know listening will wanna know how do we treat this? We do a combination of biofilm disruptors, that's really important with targeted herbal antimicrobials. Obviously that's because I'm a naturopath, I can't prescribe pharmaceuticals. But for stubborn cases that are prescription nasal sprays available. And then we do a whole workup. People that have MARCoNS, they don't just have MARCoNS, okay? Because it's so often mould illness related. And we can help you get to the bottom of how that mould illness has taken over your nervous system and your immune system, your gut, how it's disrupted your hormones, et cetera. So MARCoNS, I love testing it because it's a simple nasal swab test. And if I'm sort of a bit uming and ahing. This is a mould case or not. Getting this test done is pretty easy for people. It's not crazy expensive and it just gives us a lot of information. So thank you for joining me. I hope you found this episode beneficial. Be sure to subscribe to the histamine well so you don't miss an episode. Leave a review and you can also share this episode with someone who could benefit. If you have any questions you'd like answered or have a topic you'd like me to discuss, please go to my website, joanne kennedy naturopathy.com, where you can provide us with that information. Until next time, take care and be well.