Archive for the ‘Lyme’ Category

The Monster Inside Me Film April 26, 2022 in Pennsylvania

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-monster-inside-me-at-midtown-cinema-tickets-300237738157

The Monster Inside Me at Midtown Cinema

by Sam’s Spoons Foundation
A powerful full-length feature film about Lyme Disease and its effects on everyday people and their hard-fought relationships.

About this event

For our 6th Annual Tick Talk event, Sam’s Spoons proudly presents the premier of The Monster Inside Me.

  • April 26, 2022
  • Doors open at 6:00pm
  • Hear from Dr. Chris Turnpaugh of Turnpaugh Health & Wellness Center at 6:40pm
  • Film begins at 7:00pm
  • Midtown Cinema, 250 Reily Street Harrisburg, PA 17102  View Map
 
The Monster Inside Me at Midtown Cinema image
The Monster Inside Me at Midtown Cinema image

SYNOPSIS:

Lyme disease mimics as many as 300 other illnesses, making it difficult to diagnose in a timely manner. This causes confusion, leaves unanswered questions, and results in delayed and improper treatment, often causing the disease to become chronic. The battle against this insidious disease is further complicated by those doctors and the CDC who fail to recognize the chronic stages and neurological symptoms associated with Lyme. Victims of the disease are often left feeling helpless and “crazy.” The search for answers quite literally becomes a fight.

Many documentaries exist about chronic illnesses…even some about Lyme. Filmmakers have visited the homes of those coping with various diseases to interview, film, and show the world what living with a serious illness is really like. Most focus solely on the experiences of the individuals who are sick. The Monster Inside Me goes deeper.

You’ll follow Tony and Frances as they embark on a journey across the United States, speaking with world-renowned doctors and professionals who break down the disease in detail, and meeting victims fighting for their lives. This provocative film explores not only the physical and neurological aspects of Lyme…it peels away the layers to reveal something quite distinct about this disease: the warrior-like mentality developed by those fighting for wellness and its impact on their personal relationships.

Discover it all — the truth, the lies, the darkness, the healing, and even the beauty of Lyme disease — in The Monster Inside Me.

Refund policy

Refunds up to 7 days before event

Eventbrite’s fee is nonrefundable.

Category:

Activism, Lyme

“Super-Fast” Lone Star Ticks Showing up in New Places

https://www.lymedisease.org/lyme-sci-super-fast-lone-star-ticks-are-showing-up-in-new-places/

LYME SCI: “Super-fast” lone star ticks are showing up in new places

March 30, 2022

By Lonnie Marcum

The lone star tick (Amblyomma americanum) has been rapidly expanding its range, from the Southern United States into the Northeast and Midwest.

This tick is a major vector of several viral, bacterial, and protozoan pathogens affecting humans, pets, livestock, birds and other wild animals in the United States. In some Midwestern states, it is commonly known as the “turkey tick” due to its association with wild turkeys. (Childs and Paddock, 2003)

Currently, the lone star tick is known to transmit human ehrlichiosis, tularemia, Heartland virus, Bourbon virus, Southern tick-associated rash illness (STARI) and rarely Rocky Mountain spotted fever—one of the deadliest tick-borne diseases in the US.

People bitten by a lone star tick may also develop alpha-gal syndrome—a severe allergy to meat and meat-related products.

A recent crowdsourced science project has documented the largest increase of the lone star tick in decades. Researchers documented new tick encounters in over 300 counties—including six new counties in western states—where these ticks had not been documented before.

TickSpotters program evaluates photos

In a study published in the Journal of Medical Entomology, researchers at the University of Rhode Island (URI) evaluated over 9,500 photos submitted between 2014-2019 to the TickSpotters surveillance program.

To document the changes, researchers first identified the ticks in the submitted photos, then logged the county each was reported from. They used this method to plot the geographic ranges of three medically important U.S. tick species: Amblyomma americanum, Ixodes scapularis and Ixodes pacificus. The last two are the vectors for Lyme disease.

More than 5,000 photographs of the lone star tick were received from over 1,000 counties across the US. Of those, 341 counties had no previous record of lone star ticks. The largest expansion of the lone star tick was seen in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio.

In addition, the lone star tick was reported in several counties in the western US, a region not typically associated with these ticks. Notably, it was found in six new counties in California, four counties in Colorado and one new county each in Idaho, Oregon and Utah.

“The causative drivers of these upturns are complex, but have a lot to do with increased host availability, warming temperatures, and moisture availability,” researcher Heather L Kopsco, PhD, told Entomology Today,

Female lone star ticks are identifiable by a single silvery-white spot on the center of their back (scutum.) The male lone star tick is slightly smaller, with varied white streaks or spots around the margins of its body.

Finding Heartland virus in Georgia

Another recent study published in the CDC journal “Emerging Infectious Diseases” found lone star ticks infected by Heartland virus in Georgia. The article points out several major knowledge gaps and the complexity of diseases carried by the lone star tick. (Romer et al, 2022)

“Heartland is an emerging infectious disease that is not well understood,” says Emory University’s Gonzalo Vazquez-Prokopec PhD, senior author of the study.

Interestingly, the genetic analysis of the Heartland virus from Georgia shows that it is 2%-5% different from previous genetic sequences of the virus.

“These results suggest that the virus may be evolving very rapidly in different geographic locations, or that it may be circulating primarily in isolated areas and not dispersing quickly between those areas,” Vazquez-Prokopec says.

The Heartland virus wasn’t officially named until 2009. However, the CDC has since found evidence of it in wild animals in at least 13 states, including stored samples from deer dating back to 2001. (Clark et al, 2018)

Because the initial symptoms of these tick-borne viruses resemble the flu, and tests for it are not readily available, it is likely being undetected and underreported in humans.

Quick and aggressive

The lone star tick moves quickly and aggressively, says Thomas Mather, PhD, Director of the TickEncounter Resource Center and co-author of the URI study.

“It is super-fast. It can move from below your knees to the top of your head in a matter of seconds.” Mather says it is the tick most frequently found attached to humans in the South.

The greatest risk of being bitten by the adults exists in early spring through fall. Lone star ticks are found mostly in woodlands with dense undergrowth and around animal resting areas, where they will quest on tall grass and low hanging branches.

Nymphal ticks quest lower to the ground but also move fast. If you encounter a patch of larvae, you’ll find they may latch on by the hundreds. Tick Encounters recommends using sticky duct tape to remove these larvae as soon as possible.

Expanding range

The range of the lone star tick in North America has increased dramatically over the past 30 years. Large numbers have been recorded as far to the northeast as Maine, as far to the southeast as Florida, as far south as Mexico and as far west as Colorado. Recently, patchy encounters have also been noted in Canada and the West coast.

Diseases carried by lone star ticks

The following is a list of symptoms of diseases caused by the bite of the lone star tick per the CDC.

Alpha-gal Syndrome (AGS)

Reactions can include:

  • Rash
  • Hives
  • Nausea or vomiting
  • Heartburn or indigestion
  • Diarrhea
  • Cough, shortness of breath, or difficulty breathing
  • Drop in blood pressure
  • Swelling of the lips, throat, tongue, or eye lids
  • Dizziness or faintness
  • Severe stomach pain

Symptoms commonly appear 2-6 hours after eating meat or dairy products, or after exposure to products containing alpha-gal (for example, gelatin-coated medications). Personal products that use ingredients containing “hydrolyzed protein,” lanolin, glycerin, collagen, or tallow are particularly problematic.

AGS reactions can differ from person to person and range from mild to severe. Anaphylaxis (a potentially life-threatening allergic reaction involving multiple organ systems) may need urgent medical care.

People may not react after every alpha-gal exposure.

Seek immediate emergency care if you are having a severe allergic reaction.

Bourbon Virus

Scientists are still learning about possible symptoms caused by this virus.

People diagnosed with Bourbon virus disease had symptoms including:

  • fever
  • tiredness
  • rash
  • headache
  • other body aches
  • nausea, and

Patients with Bourbon virus will have low blood counts for cells that fight infection and help prevent bleeding.

There is no medicine to treat Bourbon virus disease. Doctors can only treat the symptoms. For example, some patients may need to be hospitalized and given intravenous fluids and treatment for pain and fever. Antibiotics don’t work against viruses.

Ehrlichiosis

Signs and symptoms of ehrlichiosis typically begin 1-2 weeks after the bite of an infected tick. Left untreated, ehrlichiosis can be fatal. Early treatment with doxycycline is highly effective.

Early signs and symptoms (the first 5 days of illness) are usually mild or moderate and may include:

  • Fever, chills
  • Severe headache
  • Muscle aches
  • Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, loss of appetite
  • Confusion
  • Rash (more common in children)

About a third of people with ehrlichiosis report a rash, which can look like red splotches or pinpoint dots. This typically develops five days after the fever begins.

Early treatment can reduce your risk of developing severe illness, which can include:

  • Damage to the brain or nervous system (e.g. inflammation of the brain and surrounding tissue (called meningoencephalitis))
  • Respiratory failure
  • Uncontrolled bleeding
  • Organ failure
  • Death
Heartland Virus
  • Most people infected with Heartland virus experience fever, fatigue, decreased appetite, headache, nausea, diarrhea, and muscle or joint pain. Many require hospitalization.
  • Some people also have lower than normal counts of white blood cells (cells that help fight infections) and lower than normal counts of platelets (which help clot blood). Sometimes, liver enzymes are elevated.
  • It can take up to two weeks for symptoms to appear after an infected tick bite.
Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever

Early signs and symptoms are not specific to RMSF. However, the disease can rapidly progress to a life-threatening illness.

Signs and symptoms can include:

  • Fever
  • Headache
  • Rash
  • Nausea
  • Vomiting
  • Stomach pain
  • Muscle pain
  • Lack of appetite

While almost all patients with RMSF will develop a rash, it often does not appear early in illness, which can make RMSF difficult to diagnose. RMSF rash usually develops 2-4 days after fever begins. The appearance of the rash can vary widely. Some rashes look like red splotches and some look like pinpoint dots.

Some patients who survive severe RMSF may be left with permanent damage, including amputation of arms, legs, fingers, or toes (from damage to blood vessels in these areas); hearing loss; paralysis; or mental disability.

Southern tick-associated rash illness (STARI)

It is not known whether antibiotic treatment is necessary or beneficial for patients with STARI. Nevertheless, because STARI resembles early Lyme disease, physicians will often treat patients with oral antibiotics.

The rash of STARI is a red, expanding “bull’s-eye” lesion that develops around the site of a lone star tick bite. The rash usually appears within seven days of the tick bite and expands to a diameter of three inches or more. The rash should not be confused with much smaller areas of redness and discomfort that can occur commonly at the site of any tick bite.

Patients may also experience fatigue, headache, fever, and muscle pains. The saliva from lone star ticks can be irritating; redness and discomfort at a bite site does not necessarily indicate an infection.

Tularemia

The signs and symptoms of tularemia vary depending on how the bacteria enter the body. Illness ranges from mild to life-threatening. All forms are accompanied by fever, which can be as high as 104 °F.

“Ulceroglandular” is the most common form of tularemia and usually occurs following a tick or deer fly bite or after handing an infected animal. A skin ulcer appears at the site where the bacteria entered the body. The ulcer is accompanied by swelling lymph glands, usually in the armpit or groin.

LymeSci is written by Lonnie Marcum, a Licensed Physical Therapist and mother of a daughter with Lyme. She serves on a subcommittee of the federal Tick-Borne Disease Working Group. Follow her on Twitter: @LonnieRhea  Email her at: lmarcum@lymedisease.org.

References

Childs JE, Paddock CD. (2003) The ascendancy of Amblyomma americanum as a vector of pathogens affecting humans in the United States. Annu Rev Entomol. 48:307-37. doi: 10.1146/annurev.ento.48.091801.112728. Epub 2002 Jun 4. PMID: 12414740.

Clarke, L. L., Ruder, M. G., Mead, D. G., & Howerth, E. W. (2018). Heartland Virus Exposure in White-Tailed Deer in the Southeastern United States, 2001-2015. The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene, 99(5), 1346–1349. https://doi.org/10.4269/ajtmh.18-0555

Guzmán-Cornejo C et al (2011) The Amblyomma (Acari: Ixodida: Ixodidae) of Mexico: identification keys, distribution and hosts. Zootaxa 2998:16–38

Kopsco HL, Duhaime RJ, Mather TN. (2021) Crowdsourced Tick Image-Informed Updates to U.S. County Records of Three Medically Important Tick Species. J Med Entomol.  11:tjab082. doi: 10.1093/jme/tjab082. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33973636.

Monzón, J. D., Atkinson, E. G., Henn, B. M., & Benach, J. L. (2016). Population and Evolutionary Genomics of Amblyomma americanum, an Expanding Arthropod Disease Vector. Genome biology and evolution, 8(5), 1351–1360. https://doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evw080

Riemersma KK, Komar N. (2015) Heartland Virus Neutralizing Antibodies in Vertebrate Wildlife, United States, 2009-2014. Emerg Infect Dis. 21(10):1830-3. doi: 10.3201/eid2110.150380. PMID: 26401988; PMCID: PMC4593439.

Romer, Y., Adcock, K., Wei, Z., Mead, D. G., Kirstein, O., Bellman, S….Vazquez-Prokopec, G. M. (2022). Isolation of Heartland Virus from Lone Star Ticks, Georgia, USA, 2019. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 28(4), 786-792. https://doi.org/10.3201/eid2804.211540.

Springer YP, Eisen L, Beati L, James AM, Eisen RJ. (2014) Spatial distribution of counties in the continental United States with records of occurrence of Amblyomma americanum (Ixodida: Ixodidae). J Med Entomol. Mar;51(2):342-51. doi: 10.1603/me13115. PMID: 24724282; PMCID: PMC4623429.

Steinke J, Platts-Mills T, Commins, S. (2015) The alpha-gal story: lessons learned from connecting the dots. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 135(3): 589-96.

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**Comment**

Great, informative article.  I disagree with the notion that the climate is causing tick movement and proliferation of disease – here’s why:

Ticks will be the last species on the planet besides the IRS.

Category:

Alpha Gal Meat Allergy, Ehrlichiosis, Lyme, research, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Ticks, Transmission, Tularemia, Viruses

Pennsylvanians Urged to Protect Themselves Against Rising Tick-borne Diseases

http://  Approx. 8 Min

Pennsylvanians Urged to Protect Themselves Against Rising Tick-Borne Diseases

WGAL

March 16, 2022

Category:

Activism, Lyme, Ticks

Autoantibody Tests Might Diagnose Lyme Disease Sooner

https://www.lymedisease.org/auto-antibody-lyme-test-tufts/

Autoantibody tests might diagnose Lyme disease sooner

March 23, 2022

By Julie Rafferty, Tufts University

For scientists and clinicians alike, one of the holy grails for successfully treating and curing Lyme disease is developing tests that identify the disease sooner, show when people are cured of infection, and can diagnose reinfection.

Now, researchers at Tufts University School of Medicine say they have identified just such a testing mechanism. It detects a type of antibody that infected individuals produce against a substance the Lyme bacteria acquires from the host in order to grow.

Identifying re-infections

The researchers believe tests to detect these autoantibodies – antibodies that mistakenly target and react with a person’s own tissues or organs – could provide clinicians with a way to diagnose the disease sooner, know whether treatment with antibiotics is working, and identify patients who have been reinfected.

Authors of the study, published today by the Journal of Clinical Investigation, are Peter Gwynne, Luke Clendenen, and Linden Hu of the school’s Department of Molecular Biology and Microbiology, and colleagues at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Lyme disease, which was identified five decades ago along the Connecticut coast and spread across New England and the mid-Atlantic region, affects almost 500,000 people in the U.S. every year. Caused by a bite from an infected tick, it frequently goes undetected unless a person notices the telltale rash that forms around the bite.

Peter Gwynne, research scientist

Lyme disease can lead to debilitating long-term complications including arthritis, fatigue, mental impairment, and in the most severe cases, attacks on the heart and brain tissue.

Caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, Lyme disease can often be treated with antibiotics. But in 10 to 20 percent of cases, the disease’s effects can persist.

Limitations of testing

Testing to detect Lyme disease exists, but it has limitations, says Gwynne, the lead author of the study and research scientist at Tufts School of Medicine who received a Tufts Launchpad Accelerator award for his work on Lyme disease.

“Traditional Lyme tests can stay positive for prolonged periods of time after treatment – years or even a lifetime,” he says.

“As a result, for some individuals suffering from symptoms that resemble long-term Lyme disease infection, clinicians are never sure whether the patient has persistent Lyme disease, was cured and then reinfected, or was cured and is suffering from something else.”

Targeting fats to fight Lyme

“We started this current work to learn how Borrelia burgdorferi acquires key nutrients, like fats, for growth,” says Gwynne. “The Lyme bacteria, despite being a very successful pathogen, is much more dependent than other bacteria on acquiring nutrients from its environment.”

Linden Hu

“In the process of our research, we found that the organism takes fats called phospholipids directly from its surroundings in the host, and puts them on its surface,” says Hu, the Vice Dean of Research at the school and Paul and Elaine Chervinsky Professor of Immunology.

“That finding led us to look to see if the direct use of a host fat by the bacteria might lead the immune system to recognize it as a foreign substance and create antibodies to it.”

What the scientists discovered is that both animals and patients infected with the Lyme bacterium developed autoantibodies to multiple phospholipids. Because autoantibodies can be damaging to the host, these autoantibodies are tightly regulated and tend to disappear quickly once the stimulating factor is removed.

“The antibodies also seem to develop much more quickly than traditional antibodies to the Lyme bacteria—likely because your body has previously created these autoantibodies and downregulated them,” says Hu.

While current testing makes it difficult to diagnose reinfection or successful treatment, “the anti-phospholipid autoantibodies—because of their quick increase and quick resolution with treatment—can fill these gaps as a novel additional test,” Gwynne says. “They may make it possible to tell whether treatment has eradicated the Lyme disease bacteria. And they therefore also make it possible to tell if a patient with a prior infection now has a new infection.”

Gwynne and Hu have a provisional patent pending describing the use of antiphospholipid antibodies in the diagnosis of Lyme disease. Their hope is that if their discovery is borne out by further research, a diagnostic company could begin development of a commercially available version of their test within a couple of years.

Can persistent cases be predicted?

A bigger question, which was not examined in the current paper, is whether these autoantibodies may identify a subset of patients who will develop persistent symptoms of Lyme disease after treatment.

Up to 20 percent of patients can develop persistent symptoms after Lyme disease. Diagnosis of these patients is currently only by clinical symptoms, making it likely that patients with different causes of their symptoms are grouped together. And treatment trials in patients with persistent Lyme disease are unlikely to show benefit if that occurs.

“Anti-phospholipid antibodies are commonly seen in autoimmune diseases like lupus, and are associated with blood clots and persistent inflammation that causes other disease conditions,” says Hu. “Many of the persistent symptoms in patients who continue to have symptoms after being diagnosed with Lyme disease are similar to those autoimmune diseases.”

“If there ends up being a link between having persistent Lyme symptoms and these autoantibodies, this would be the first test that could be used to distinguish a group of patients who have persistent Lyme disease,” he says. “It would allow us to test specific new therapies targeted to a defined mechanism.”

SOURCE OF PRESS RELEASE: Tufts University

___________________

**Comment**

A few points:

  • The oft repeated dogma that only 10-20% go on to suffer long-term symptoms is FALSE.  This percentage is only based upon patients who are diagnosed and treated EARLY.  It does not account for a larger subset of patients (30-40%) of patients who are diagnosed and treated LATE.  When you combine the two groups you get a whopping 60% who suffer with long-term symptoms.  This distinction is imperative and crucial as research funding goes to issues affecting the most people.  By continuing to downplay the problem, researchers will never appreciate and study the significance of the problem.
  • Please note:  Gwynne and Hu have a provisional patent pending describing the use of antiphospholipid antibodies in the diagnosis of Lyme disease.  IMO: this could be prohibited as it’s a conflict of interest and puts a corner on the market rather than widely sharing information with others as well as limiting the production of tests.
  • Please note: this only tests for Lyme.  Many patients (as well as ticks) are infected with multiple infections – all of which are devastating, but together are formidable.  The fact they continue to push a “one test, one drug, for one pathogen” shows they still don’t “get it,” and are attempting to push a circle into a square.  This is a serious problem and requires an entire paradigm shift.
  • While I’m no expert on Lyme testing, microbiology, or science in general, my concern is that a person could have autoantibodies AND still have persistent infection.  The fear is that they will use this test against patients as “proof” they are no longer infected, which in turn could be used to prohibit further treatment with antimicrobials, the very thing that is needed.  This would be devastating to patients, and would doom them to a life of unresolved infection(s), while “authorities”, doctors, and researchers feel legitimized in putting simple band-aid solutions on a festering Hodge-podge of infections. Life for a Lyme/MSIDS patient is already hard enough, even using extended antimicrobials.  Imagine if they make this impossible to obtain. If there’s one thing you must learn in Lyme-land, it is the law of unintended consequences.
  • I’m extremely skeptical of Hu, as he has spent his entire career working with Lyme denialists:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2021/06/03/plotting-the-end-of-lyme-disease/ Excerpts:
    • Hu has developed a technique to give mice vaccine-infused food which contains a virus, which he insists is safe.  Thankfully the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture is leery.
    • Hu has also proposed putting an antibiotic into mouse food at bait stations. The article admits that the science it’s all based on was done more than a decade ago. This project was also stalled due to fears of antibiotic resistance.
    • Hu and Telford (a chronic Lyme denialist) just received nearly 4 MILLION from the NIH to study a more narrow-spectrum antibiotic. Please keep that dollar amount in mind when you read the article.
    • Telford was involved with Steer back in the early 1990’s with LYMErix which caused Lyme-like symptoms and was shelved. He appears completely indifferent to this fact and states it was 80% effective – which is quite reminiscent of the current COVID injections claiming to be 90% effective but are less than 1% effective when absolute risk is taken into account.  There have also been thousands of reports of deaths and severe reactions.
    • Telford has gone on record dismissing concerns between Lyme and US government biowarfare research. He also takes every opportunity to correct doctors (using antiquated & biased science) who depart from the CDC/IDSA accepted narrative. This is also being experienced with COVID.
    • Hu and Klemen Stole of Wadsworth Institute just obtained over 3 MILLION from NIH to study how genetic mutations affect the body’s ability to develop tolerance for borrelia.  Please also keep this monetary figure in mind while reading the article.
    • Probably the worst part of the article (hard to judge as so much of it is atrocious) is the statement there is no clear treatment for long-term cases.  Unfortunately, this is true due to the fanatical polarization within public health and the research and medical communities who care more about profits than they do about patients.
    • Recent work has shown longer treatment durations were associated with better treatment response; however, this hasn’t even caused a ripple in public health, the research & medical worlds due to the fact it isn’t a double blinded, placebo controlled, randomized trial – Anthony Fauci’s favorite animal (but only when it suits his purpose).  
    • Lastly, the article mentions former Tufts Medical Center doctor, Dr. Mark Klempner, now executive vice chancellor of MassBiologics at UMass Medical School, who has developed ‘pre-exposure prophylaxis’ (PrEP), which is supposedly not a vaccine. Klempner not only has ties to biodefense but is behind research that is still being used to keep chronically sick Lyme/MSIDS patients from extended treatment. Klempner also recruited Linden Hu. 

It’s imperative to understand this important backstory to understand where this current study is headed and the inherent bias.  They are careful to bait patients into thinking this research is beneficial by mentioning things like “chronic infection”, the importance of early diagnosis, and identifying reinfection, but never ONCE do they admit the possibility of chronic, persistent, infection.

This, right here, is why Lyme/MSIDS has remained and continues to remain in a quagmire.  Until this issue is dealt with utilizing unbiased studies, most probably from independent researchers without patents and ties to the government, we will never move forward with proper scientific information.  It will all continue to be based upon a faulty paradigm which hasn’t shifted in over 40 years.

Category:

Lyme, Testing

University of Kentucky Study to Explore Why Lyme Disease Symptoms Persist For Some

http://uknow.uky.edu/research/uk-study-explore-why-lyme-disease-symptoms-persist-some

UK Study to Explore Why Lyme Disease Symptoms Persist for Some

By Elizabeth Chapin March 4, 2022

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 4, 2022) — Although most cases of Lyme disease can be cured with a two-to-four-week course of antibiotics, some patients still experience lingering, debilitating effects of the disease months after they finish treatment.

Researchers in the University of Kentucky’s College of Medicine are seeking to understand if the antibiotic regimen used to treat Lyme disease could also be contributing to Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome (PTLDS), which includes ongoing symptoms of pain, fatigue or difficulty thinking.

Antibiotics can cause imbalances to the gut microbiome, the trillions of microbes essential to health and immune system function. Known as dysbiosis, these disruptions are linked to various autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, as well as cardiovascular disease and depression.

The study, supported by the Global Lyme Alliance and co-led by Ilhem Messaoudi, Ph.D., and Brian Stevenson, Ph.D., in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics, will be the first to assess the role of dysbiosis in the development of PTLDS.

Lyme disease is a tick-borne illness caused by the bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 476,000 Americans are diagnosed with Lyme disease each year.

The research will provide new insights into the interaction between B. burgdorferi infection, antibiotics, and the gut microbiome that may lead to more effective ways to treat Lyme disease, says Messaoudi.

“Lyme disease can be just an acute episode, but for some people, it becomes a prolonged disease with a lot of complications and scientists don’t fully understand where these complications come from,” Messaoudi said. “This study may provide targets that could lead to the development of new antibiotic treatment plans that address the microbiome as well as the immune system.”

Messaoudi and Stevenson will be collaborating with researchers at the Oregon National Primate Research Center to carry out an in-depth analysis of host responses. The research will also establish an ideal animal model for future studies on the cognitive and physical effects of PTLDS.

The University of Kentucky is increasingly the first choice for students, faculty and staff to pursue their passions and their professional goals. In the last two years, Forbes has named UK among the best employers for diversity, and INSIGHT into Diversity recognized us as a Diversity Champion four years running. UK is ranked among the top 30 campuses in the nation for LGBTQ* inclusion and safety. UK has been judged a “Great College to Work for” three years in a row, and UK is among only 22 universities in the country on Forbes’ list of “America’s Best Employers.”  We are ranked among the top 10 percent of public institutions for research expenditures — a tangible symbol of our breadth and depth as a university focused on discovery that changes lives and communities. And our patients know and appreciate the fact that UK HealthCare has been named the state’s top hospital for five straight years. Accolades and honors are great. But they are more important for what they represent: the idea that creating a community of belonging and commitment to excellence is how we honor our mission to be not simply the University of Kentucky, but the University for Kentucky.

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Category:

Activism, Gut Health, Lyme, research, Treatment