Archive for the ‘research’ Category

Wisconsin Tick-Borne Illness Center of Excellence

  Approx. 3 Min

OMI/HYF Tick-Borne Illness Center of Excellence

The Howard Young Foundation’s Women’s Legacy Council presents a campaign to establish the foremost center in the Midwest for identifying and treating tick-borne illnesses and advancing medical knowledge. Led by the Open Medicine Institute, this center will feature state-of-the-art diagnostic equipment and advanced research methodology, and will work collaboratively with patients, referring physicians and regional specialists. Imagine Diagnosis, Treatment, Follow-up and Research for tick-borne illnesses all in one place. With your leadership and support, we can deliver this journey to giving hope, restoring health, and research for patients with tick-borne illnesses.

 Approx 30 Sec

HTF Tick Center

For more:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/12/16/tick-borne-illness-center-of-excellence-set-to-see-patients-in-early-2019/

https://www.howardyoungfoundation.org/Howard-Young-Foundation-In-the-News/tick-center.html

 

 

 

 

Category:

Activism, Lyme, research, Testing, Ticks, Treatment

22 With Babesia, 8 Develop Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome – 3 Die

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30585748

2018 Dec 26:1-6. doi: 10.1080/00325481.2019.1558910. [Epub ahead of print]

Babesiosis as a cause of acute respiratory distress syndrome: a series of eight cases.

Alvarez De Leon S1, Srivastava P1, Revelo AE1, Kadambi A1, El Khoury MY2, Wormser GP2, Epelbaum O1.

Abstract

OBJECTIVES:

The characteristics of patients with Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) as a complication of Babesia microti infection have not been systematically described.

METHODS:

Adult patients admitted to the medical intensive care unit (MICU) of a tertiary care hospital in the Lower Hudson Valley of New York from 1/1/2008 to 8/1/2016 were evaluated for ARDS complicating babesiosis.

RESULTS:

Of 22 patients with babesiosis in the MICU, eight (36.4%; 95% CI: 19.7-57.0%) had ARDS. Six patients (75%) developed ARDS following initiation of anti-babesia drug therapy; however, the mean duration of symptoms in these patients exceeded that of patients who developed ARDS prior to initiation of treatment (7.50 ± 3.83d vs. 4.50 ± 0.71d, p = 0.34). Three patients (37.5%; 95% CI: 13.7-69.4%) expired without recovery from ARDS. In comparison, the mortality rate for the 14 MICU babesiosis patients without ARDS was 14.3% (p = 0.31). There was a trend toward younger age in survivors relative to non-survivors (mean age 54.6 ± 13.8y vs. 74.0 ± 6.24y, p = 0.07). Three of the five survivors did not require mechanical ventilation. The mean sequential organ failure assessment score of non-survivors was significantly higher than that of survivors (12.3 ± 1.15 vs. 6.0 ± 1.4, p = 0.0006).

CONCLUSION:

Among 22 critically ill adult patients with B. microti infection, ARDS developed in eight (35.4%), and three (37.5%) expired without resolution of the ARDS. ARDS often followed the initiation of anti-babesia drug therapy, raising the question of whether the death of the parasite per se contributed to its development. However, this observation was confounded by the longer duration of symptoms preceding initiation of drug therapy.

________________

More on Babesia:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/01/16/babesia-treatment/ According to Dr. Horowitz ARDS is often worsened in hospitalized patients who were given steroids (which suppress the immune system) which can cause death.

The number of symptoms and duration of illness in patients with concurrent Lyme disease and babesiosis are greater than in patients with either infection alone:  http://www.lymepa.org/c07%20Lyme%20disease%20and%20Babesiosis%20coinfection.pdf

This finding implies the presence of living spirochetes, because spirochete DNA in blood is amplifiable only when these pathogens remain viable.  It also suggests a synergistic inflammatory response to both a parasitemia and an increased spirochetemia. In addition, babesial infection enhances Lyme disease myocarditis in mice, which suggests that coinfection might also synergize spirochete-induced lesions in human joints, heart, and nerves.

The same was found in animals:  https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0020751918302406

Similar to humans, B. microti coinfection appears to enhance the severity of Lyme disease-like symptoms in mice. Coinfected mice have lower peak B. microti parasitaemia compared to mice infected with B. microti alone, which may reflect attenuation of babesiosis symptoms reported in some human coinfections. These findings suggest that B. burgdorferi coinfection attenuates parasite growth while B. microti presence exacerbates Lyme disease-like symptoms in mice.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877959X18302978  Our findings suggest that Babesia infections may indeed be quite common among individuals who have been exposed to tick bites.

Authorities and mainstream doctors to this day are not considering Lyme/MSIDS a polymicrobial illness, but it usually is:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/10/30/study-shows-lyme-msids-patients-infected-with-many-pathogens-and-explains-why-we-are-so-sick/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/12/11/babesia-widespread-in-canada-its-high-tolerance-to-therapy/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/10/06/case-of-recurrent-fever-multiple-splenic-infarcts-why-short-treatment-duration-often-doesnt-work-for-babesia/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/03/22/what-is-air-hunger-anyway/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/02/20/babesia-and-heart-issues/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/10/11/babesia-found-in-patient-with-persistent-symptoms-following-lyme-treatment/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/02/20/babesia-and-heart-issues/

Category:

Babesia, research, Testing, Ticks, Transmission, Treatment

Rickettsia Found in Ticks on Brazilian Snakes

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/30484879/

Microorganisms in the ticks Amblyomma dissimile Koch 1844 and Amblyomma rotundatum Koch 1844 collected from snakes in Brazil.

Ogrzewalska M, et al. Med Vet Entomol. 2018.

Abstract

Knowledge about ticks (Acari) and screening of ticks parasitizing various hosts are necessary to understand the epidemiology of tick-borne pathogens. The objective of this study was to investigate tick infestations on snakes (Reptilia: Squamata: Serpentes) arriving at the serpentarium at the Institute Vital Brazil, Rio de Janeiro. Some of the identified ticks were individually tested for the presence of bacteria of the genera Rickettsia (Rickettsiales: Rickettsiaceae), Borrelia (Spirochaetales: Spirochaetaceae), Coxiella (Legionellales: Coxiellaceae), Bartonella (Rhizobiales: Bartonellaceae), Ehrlichia (Rickettsiales: Anaplasmataceae), Anaplasma (Rickettsiales: Anaplasmataceae), and Apicomplexa protozoa of the genera Babesia (Piroplasmida: Babesiidae) and Hepatozoon (Eucoccidiorida: Hepatozoidae).

A total of 115 hard ticks (Ixodida: Ixodidae) were collected from 17 host individuals obtained from four Brazilian states. Two species of tick were identified: Amblyomma dissimile Koch 1844 (four larvae, 16 nymphs, 40 adults), and Amblyomma rotundatum Koch 1844 (12 nymphs, 43 adults).

Rickettsia bellii was found in A. rotundatum and A. dissimile ticks and Rickettsia sp. strain Colombianensi, Anaplasma-like and Hepatozoon sp. in A. dissimile ticks. Among the tested ticks, no DNA of Borrelia, Bartonella, Coxiella or Babesia was found. The present findings extend the geographic range of Rickettsia sp. strain Colombianensi in Brazil and provide novel tick-host associations.

__________________

**Comment**

Great example of how we need to expand our minds regarding ticks and the hosts they feed on.  For far too long the white footed mouse has been the sole perp blamed along with the black-legged tick.  There are many other ticks transmitting disease and many other hosts.

Please understand that researchers in their vying for dollars want to simplify and whittle things down into a narrow, confined project.  Unfortunately, nothing about Lyme/MSIDS is simple or narrow and this type of thinking has hurt patients for over 40 years.

More is coming out on the importance of birds transiting ticks everywhere:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/11/07/ticks-on-the-move-due-to-migrating-birds-and-photoperiod-not-climate-change/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/06/08/hemorrhagic-fever-virus-found-on-ticks-on-migratory-birds/

Key quote:

“We see that infectious diseases can spread to new geographical areas and that is why it is necessary to understand the role of different animal species in the dynamics of these diseases,” says Tove Hoffman.

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/11/05/hawk-found-carrying-asian-long-horned-tick-the-one-that-drains-cattle-of-all-their-blood/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/08/17/of-birds-and-ticks/

Lizards must be factored in as well:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/06/25/the-confounding-geography-of-lyme-disease-in-the-u-s/

And for Wisconsinites, lizards are a problem here too:

Researchers working at Fort McCoy near Sparta, as part of a multi-university project Michigan State ecologist Jean Tsao leads, have collected deer ticks from five-lined skinks and snakes.

For pictures and the geographical range of WI skinks, see (yes, they are in Dane County):  https://dnr.wi.gov/topic/WildlifeHabitat/Herps.asp?mode=detail&spec=ARACH01050

Category:

Anaplasmosis, Lyme, research, Rickettsia, Testing, Ticks

IPAK Model of Autism Spectrum Causality

http://ipaknowledge.org/ASD-Causality-Model.php

“Personal Communication, Dr. J. Lyons-Weiler, The Institute for Pure and Applied Knowledge”

The IPAK Model of ASD Causality (aka “The IPAK Model”)

After reviewing thousands of studies over two years, a more complete picture of the causality of ASD has now emerged.

We are working on an interactive web resource to allow the public and researchers to access the scientific literature in support of each component of this ASD causality model.

Note that this model includes an important component of genetic susceptibility, never addressed in whole-population ecological correlational association studies.

Again, the hypothesis of genetic susceptibility has not been addressed.

USAGE: Please use with citation and reference

Also available for download as .tiff, .ppt

Vaccine Metals and ER Stress

Aremu DA, Ezomo OF, Meshitsuka S. Gene expression in primary cultured astrocytes affected by aluminum: alteration of chaperons involved in protein folding. Environ Health Prev Med. 2011;16:16-24.

Franchi L, Núñez G. The Nlrp3 inflammasome is critical for aluminium hydroxide-mediated IL-1beta secretion but dispensable for adjuvant activity. Eur J Immunol. 38(8):2085-9.

Rizvi SH, Parveen A, Ahmad I, Ahmad I, Verma AK, Arshad M, Mahdi AA. Aluminum Activates PERK-EIF2α Signaling and Inflammatory Proteins in Human Neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y Cells. Biol Trace Elem Res. 2016;172(1):108-19.

Rizvi MSH, Parveen A, Verma AK, Ahmad I, Arshad M, Mahdi AA. Aluminium induced endoplasmic reticulum stress mediated cell death in SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cell line is independent of p53. PLoS One. 2014;30;9(5):e98409.

Stamogiannos A, Papakyriakou A, Mauvais FX, van Endert P, Stratikos E. Screening Identifies Thimerosal as a Selective Inhibitor of Endoplasmic Reticulum Aminopeptidase 1. ACS Med Chem Lett. 2016;7:681-5.

Direct Mitotoxicity

Kahrizi F 2016. Repeated Administration of Mercury Intensifies Brain Damage in Multiple Sclerosis through Mitochondrial Dysfunction. Iran J Pharm Res. 15:834-841.

Lemire et al., 2009. Aluminum-induced defective mitochondrial metabolism perturbs cytoskeletal dynamics in human astrocytoma cells. J. Neurosci Res 87:1474-83

Sharpe, MA et al., 2012. Thimerosal-Derived Ethylmercury Is a Mitochondrial Toxin in Human Astrocytes: Possible Role of Fenton Chemistry in the Oxidation and Breakage of mtDNA Journal of Toxicology Volume 2012 Article ID 373678, 12 pages.

Vaccine ER Stress + Unfolded Protein ER Stress = ER Hyperstress

Lyons-Weiler, J. 2018. Autism is an Acquired Cellular Detoxification Deficiency Syndrome with Hetergeneous Genetic Predisposition. Autism Open Access, (Publisher’s “editing version” online: https://www.omicsonline.org/open-access/autism-is-an-acquired-cellular-detoxification-deficiency-syndrome-with-heterogeneous-genetic-predisposition-2165-7890-1000224.pdf

ER Hyperstress -> Impaired Cellular Detoxification

ER/Mito/Golgi Citations in: Lyons-Weiler, J. 2018. Autism is an Acquired Cellular Detoxification Deficiency Syndrome with Hetergeneous Genetic Predisposition. Autism Open Access, (Publisher’s “editing version” online: https://www.omicsonline.org/open-access/autism-is-an-acquired-cellular-detoxification-deficiency-syndrome-with-heterogeneous-genetic-predisposition-2165-7890-1000224.pdf

Leaky Gut -> Absorption of Toxins

De Chambrun G.P., Body-Malapel M., Frey-Wagner I., Djouina M., Deknuydt F., Atrott K., Vignal C. Aluminum enhances inflammation and decreases mucosal healing in experimental colitis in mice. Mucosal Immunol. 2014;7:589–601.

Kirschbaum, BB and C Schoolwerth. 1989. Acute Aluminum Toxicity Associated with Oral Citrate and Aluminum-Containing Antacids. The American Journal of the Medical Science 297:9-11.

Tian F. 2017. The therapeutic protection of a living and dead Lactobacillus strain against aluminum-induced brain and liver injuries in C57BL/6 mice. PLoS One. 12:e0175398. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0175398

Yu L 2016. Potential of Lactobacillus plantarum CCFM639 in Protecting against Aluminum Toxicity Mediated by Intestinal Barrier Function and Oxidative Stress. Nutrients. 8:pii: E783.

Yu, L 2017. Lactobacillus plantarum CCFM639 can prevent aluminium-induced neural injuries and abnormal behaviour in mice. Journal of Functional Foods 30:142-150.

Yu, L. 2017. Dietary Lactobacillus plantarum supplementation enhances growth performance and alleviates aluminum toxicity in tilapia Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 143:307-314.

Chronic Microglial Activation -> Leaky Gut

Grubišić V and Parpura V. 2015. The second brain in autism spectrum disorder: could connexin 43 expressed in enteric glial cells play a role? Front Cell Neurosci. 9:242. doi: 10.3389/fncel.2015.00242.

Kirchgessner AL et al., 1997. Excitotoxicity in the enteric nervous system. J Neurosci. 17(22):8804-16.

Unfolded Proteins -> Autoimmunity

Garaud JC, Schickel JN, Blaison G et al. B cell signature during inactive systemic lupus is heterogeneous: toward a biological dissection of lupus. PLoS One 2011;6:e23900.

Clavarino G, Adriouach S, Quesada JL, Clay M et al. Unfolded protein response gene GADD34 is overexpressed in rheumatoid arthritis and related to the presence of circulating anti-citrullinated protein antibodies. 2016;49(3):172-8.

Immunoneuroexcitotoxicity -> Aberrant Pruning

Cunningham CL et al., 2013. Microglia regulate the number of neural precursor cells in the developing cerebral cortex. J Neurosci. 33(10):4216-33. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3441-12.2013. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3711552/

Fiorentino et al., 2016. Blood–brain barrier and intestinal epithelial barrier alterations in autism spectrum disorders. Molecular Autism 4:49

Strunecka A., et al. 2018. Immunoexcitotoxicity as the central mechanism of etiopathology and treatment of autism spectrum disorders: A possible role of fluoride and aluminum. Surg Neurol Int. 2018; 9:74.

Aberrant Pruning -> Altered Development

Thomas MS. The over-pruning hypothesis of autism. Dev Sci. 2016 19(2):284-305.

Kim HJ et al. Deficient autophagy in microglia impairs synaptic pruning and causes social behavioral defects. Mol Psychiatry. 2017 22(11):1576-1584.

Vaccine Metals Release -> Autoimmunity

Tomljenovic L, Shaw CA Mechanisms of aluminum adjuvant toxicity and autoimmunity in pediatric populations. Lupus. 2012 21(2):223-30.

Autoimmunity -> Altered Development

Braunschweig D et al., 2008. Autism: maternally derived antibodies specific for fetal brain proteins. Neurotoxicology. 29(2):226-31.

Cabanlit M et al., 2007. Brain-specific autoantibodies in the plasma of subjects with autistic spectrum disorder. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1107:92-103.

Malkki H. Neurodevelopmental disorders: Maternal antibodies induce autism-like phenotype in mice. Nat Rev Neurol. 2016 12:678-679. doi: 10.1038/nrneurol.2016.165.

 

Category:

Activism, Autism, research, vaccines

Relapsing Fever Found at Popular Recreation Site in CA Ticks

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30517684

2018 Dec 4. doi: 10.1093/jme/tjy213. [Epub ahead of print]

Borrelia parkeri in Ornithodoros parkeri (Ixodida: Argasidae) Collected Using Compact Dry Ice Traps in Madera County, California.

Osborne CJ1, Crosbie PR1, Van Laar TA1.

Abstract

Tick-borne relapsing fever (TBRF) is a potentially serious vector-borne disease endemic to the western United States. Vector surveillance is compromised by the nidicolous life history of the three Ornithodoros species that transmit TBRF to people in this region. Large-scale stationary trapping methods were developed to survey a wide geographical range of Ornithodoros spp. which are known to vector relapsing fever Borrelia spp. in California. Ninety-six Ornithodoros parkeri were collected from four locations in the foothills of Fresno and Madera Counties. Two of these O. parkeri nymphs were PCR positive for Borrelia parkeri, and their collection at a popular recreation site increases the public health concern.

________________

More on Relapsing Fever:  https://igenex.com/ticktalk/2018/01/11/borreliosis-relapsing-fever-disease/

Category:

Borrelia Miyamotoi (Relapsing Fever Group), research, Ticks