Archive for the ‘Testing’ Category

Adaptive Immune Response Investigation in Lyme Borreliosis

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38165616/

Adaptive Immune Response Investigation in Lyme Borreliosis

Mihail Pruteanu 1, Armin Schwarzbach 2, Markus Berger 2

Abstract

To diagnose Lyme Borreliosis, it is advised to use an enzyme-linked immunosorbent test to check for serum antibodies specific for Lyme and all tests with positive or ambiguous enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) results being confirmed by immunoblot. This method of measuring the humoral immunity in human fluids (e.g., by ELISA) has provided robust and reproducible results for decades and similar assays have been validated for monitoring of B cell immunity. These immunological tests that detect antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi are useful in the diagnosis of Borreliosis on a routine basis. The variety of different Borrelia species and their different geographic distributions are the main reasons why standards and recommendations are not identical across all geographic regions of the world. In contrast to humoral immunity, the T cell reaction or cellular immunity to the Borrelia infection has not been well elucidated, but over time with more studies a novel T cell-based assay (EliSpot) has been developed and validated for the sensitive detection of antigen-specific T cell responses to B. burgdorferi. The EliSpot Lyme assay can be used to study the T cell response elicited by Borrelia infections, which bridges the gap between the ability to detect humoral immunity and cellular immunity in Lyme disease. In addition, detecting cellular immunity may be a helpful laboratory diagnostic test for Lyme disease, especially for seronegative Lyme patients. Since serodiagnostic methods of the Borrelia infection frequently provide false positive and negative results, this T cell-based diagnostic test (cellular assay) may help in confirming a Lyme diagnosis. Many clinical laboratories are convinced that the cellular assay is superior to the Western Blot assay in terms of sensitivity for detecting the underlying Borrelia infection. Research also suggests that there is a dissociation between the magnitude of the humoral and the T cell-mediated cellular immune responses in the Borrelia infection. Lastly, the data implies that the EliSpot Lyme assay may be helpful to identify Borrelia infected individuals when the serology-based diagnostic fails to do so. Here in this chapter the pairing of humoral and cellular immunity is employed to evaluate the adaptive response in patients.

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Category:

Lyme, research, Testing

Lyme Disease Leads to Muscle Weakness of the Leg & Constipation

https://danielcameronmd.com/lyme-disease-muscle-weakness-of-the-leg-and-constipation/

LYME DISEASE LEADS TO MUSCLE WEAKNESS OF THE LEG AND CONSTIPATION

lyme-disease-muscle-weakness

In their article, “Atypical Acute Neuroborreliosis With Leg Paresis and Constipation,” Ahrend and colleagues describe a case of Lyme disease presenting with neurological and autonomic manifestations in an elderly man. [1]

By 

An 80-year-old man, later diagnosed with Lyme disease, was admitted to the hospital with left leg paresis [muscle weakness], along with pain and sensory disturbances in his left abdomen. He also had a rash on his left lower abdomen, severe abdominal pain and constipation. The symptoms had been ongoing for 4-5 weeks.

The patient had visited three other medical centers for evaluation of his abdominal pain. However, a colonoscopy and CT scan of the abdomen did not explain the severity of the patient’s symptoms.

The rash manifest as a “patchy, pruritic redness with pustules, which was particularly prominent on the left flank and abdomen,” the authors state.

Testing for Lyme disease revealed Borrelia-specific IgM and IgG antibodies, consistent with the symptomatology of neuroborreliosis.

“Finally, a diagnosis of [Lyme disease] was made, which initially manifested itself with autonomic symptoms (constipation) and severe abdominal pain, accompanied by a skin rash” and muscle weakness in his left leg that appeared later on, the authors state.

“The patient’s constipation is likely due to the autonomic involvement of the disease.”

The rash, characterized as a flat, itchy redness with pustules, was atypical for Lyme disease, the authors point out.

“… serological tests were finally conclusive for Lyme borreliosis, so that the abdominal pain and [constipation] were evaluated as autonomic, and the leg paresis as neurological involvement of neuroborreliosis.”

The patient’s symptoms resolved completely following a 21-day course of doxycycline.

After treatment for Lyme disease, the patient’s muscle weakness disappeared, as did his intestinal symptoms. And, he was able to “resume his home exercise program within two months and since then he has been on the same physical level as before,” the authors state.

References:
  1. Ahrend H, Fibbe C, Jasper D, Ahrend A, Woelfel M, Layer P, Rosien U, Stope MB. Atypical Acute Neuroborreliosis With Leg Paresis and Constipation. In Vivo. 2024 Mar-Apr;38(2):940-943. doi: 10.21873/invivo.13523. PMID: 38418126; PMCID: PMC10905454.
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**Comment**
This patient requires a follow-up.
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Category:

Lyme, research, Testing

Tackling Long-Haul Diseases

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/02/28/1087617/tackling-long-haul-diseases/

Tackling long-haul diseases

Long-haul covid and chronic Lyme disease are surprisingly similar. MIT immunoengineer Mikki Tal is on the case.
Allison Guy, SM ’23archive page
February 28, 2024

MIT immunoengineer Michal “Mikki” Tal remembers the exact moment she had an insight that would change the trajectory of her research, getting her hooked on studying a long-neglected disease that leaves millions of Americans suffering without treatment.

It was 2017, and she was a Stanford postdoc exploring connections between her immune regulation research and immuno-oncology, which harnesses the body’s immune system to combat cancer. Her work focused on how healthy cells broadcast “Don’t eat me” messages while cells that are cancerous or infected with a pathogen send self-sacrificing “Eat me” messages. Immune cells, in turn, receive these missives in pocket-like receptors. The receptor that receives the healthy cells’ signal, Tal read as she was poring over the literature that day, is the third most diverse protein in the human population, meaning that it varies a lot from one person to the next. It was a fact that struck her as “very odd.”

Tal, who has been obsessed with infectious disease since losing an uncle to HIV/AIDS and a cousin to meningococcal meningitis, wondered what this striking diversity could reveal about our immune response to infection. According to one hypothesis, the wide array of these receptors is the result of an evolutionary arms race between disease-causing microbes and the immune system. Think of the receptor as a lock, and the “Nothing to see here” message as a key. Pathogens might evolve to produce their own chemical mimics of this key, effectively hiding from the immune system in plain sight. In response, the human population has developed a wide range of locks to frustrate any given impostor key.

Wanting to test this hypothesis, Tal found herself walking the halls of Stanford, asking colleagues, “Who’s got a cool bug?” Someone gave her Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacterium that causes Lyme disease. Previous research from Tal’s collaborator Jenifer Coburn, a microbiologist now at the Medical College of Wisconsin, had established that Lyme bacteria sport a special protein crucial for establishing a lasting infection. Knock this protein out, and the immune system swiftly overwhelms the bugs. The big question, however, was what made this protein so essential. So Tal used what’s known as a high-affinity probe as bait—and caught the Borrelia’s mimic of our “Don’t eat me” signal binding to it. In other words, she confirmed that the bacteria’s sneaky protein was, as predicted, a close match for a healthy cell’s signal.  (See link for article)

“Long covid looks exactly, and I mean exactly, like chronic Lyme.” ~ Michal “Mikki” Tal, MIT immunoengineer

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**Comment**

Yet, despite knowing of this ‘sneaky protein’ that establishes a lasting infection, ‘the powers that be’ deny chronic/persistent illness with Lyme/MSIDS.

 While the article factually states there’s no objective way to diagnose chronic Lyme and no medically ‘accepted’ therapy, it regurgitates the ‘same o, same o’ myth that only 10% suffer chronic symptoms.
It also correctly points out that short-term doxycycline, the widely ‘accepted’ treatment for Lyme, only prevents the bacteria from replicating which relies upon the immune system to kill off invaders which often doesn’t work due to the fact Lyme effectively gives patients immune system dysfunction – rendering it virtually useless. The article states that lengthy antibiotics can “ease” symptoms.  I would disagree with this.  For a subset of patients, it makes them completely well.
Predictably coinfection involvement is entirely missing from the conversation.
The author is far more into gender differences, which is the buzz word of the day, matters little, and won’t matter a tittle in helping patients get better.  This ‘flavor of the day’ approach to research is the new norm and is unfortunately now required to get coveted government grants.  All researchers know this little factoid, but the public remains in the dark.
Complaint aside, I did find the mouse experiment extremely interesting as it showed how Lyme ‘completely disfigured’ the uterus, which would explain why so many infected women have difficulties with pregnancies.  Only ONE other study in the history of Lyme documented uterine infection.
This does show the extremely limited and biased approach to all things Lyme/MSIDS and it always amazes me that researchers literally have to stumble into this knowledge.
Blaming men is not the answer regarding the problems in research. The problem stems from conflicts of interest and corruption – with females just as culpable as males.
While gender differences might be interesting, even illuminating, there are far bigger fish to fry in the Lyme/MSIDS kitchen.
The article then switches gears into Long COVID, a contested term that has yet to be proven conclusively, yet accepted at face value by many.  The first thing that crosses my mind when I hear that “Long COVID” and Lyme have identical symptoms is, who’s to say it isn’t Lyme?  
Testing for both diseases is abysmal, and seriously comical if lives weren’t at stake.  Yet, testing by ‘the powers that be’ simply is and continues to be accepted and utilized.
The article then gives the hypothesis dichotomy:
  1. persistent pathogens drive ongoing symptoms
  2. the immune system remains in a faulty state – driving symptoms

Tal’s project uses AI which she hopes will allow her to predict who will go on to have persistent symptoms.  She has already learned that current Lyme tests only look at IgG and IgM – not IgE, which she describes as an immune system ‘air strike’ and that those with this type of immune reaction have been ignored in research.  She received $2 million to further test this hypothesis and she expects to publish findings as early as 2025.

And hold the press! – Tal states that at a conference the keynote speaker actually apologized for what he had written in the past about chronic Lyme after he got ‘Long COVID.’

Sadly, right after this, the article predictably blames ‘climate change’ for pushing ticks into new habitats – a notion refuted by independent research, as well as more and more climate scientists, and more and more data proving there is no ‘climate emergency,’ but how the media is using corrupt data to push a narrative pushed by the UN which is bankrolling politics under a ‘climate change’ narrative.  ‘Climate change’ is big, big business, and part of a much larger agenda which utilizes science and technology for ultimate control.

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Category:

Lyme, research, Testing, Ticks, Viruses

Peripheral Neuropathy Evaluation & Repair in Lyme Disease

https://www.treatlyme.net/guide/neuropathy-repair-heal-that-tingling-numbness-pain

Updated: 4/24/2023

Neuropathy in Lyme Disease

In chronic Lyme disease it is common to have nerve injury in locations outside of the brain and spinal cord – also called peripheral neuropathy. Common symptoms of peripheral neuropathy include:

  • numbness,
  • burning sensations,
  • and/or sharp, stabbing or electric feelings.

In this article Marty Ross MD reviews:

  • laboratory evaluation of neuropathy in chronic Lyme disease and a functional medicine approach to remove nerve insults and to repair nerve injury.

Neuropathy Laboratory Evaluation

A basic laboratory evaluation of neuropathy may include:

  • Vitamin B6 (too much Vitamin B6 causes neuropathy)
  • Vitamin B12 (low Vitamin B12 causes neuropathy)
  • Vt D3 (levels around 40 ng/ml to 80ng/ml support healthy nerve function)
  • CBC
  • CMP (evaluation of kidney and liver function)
  • TSH, Free T3, and Free T4 (evaluate for low or high thyroid function)
  • TTG-IgA & EMA (for possible celiac disease)
  • heavy metal urine testing (see the end of the article for when to do this)

(See link for video and article)

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Neuropathy Laboratory Evaluation

A basic laboratory evaluation of neuropathy may include:

  • Vitamin B6 (too much Vitamin B6 causes neuropathy)
  • Vitamin B12 (low Vitamin B12 causes neuropathy)
  • Vt D3 (levels around 40 ng/ml to 80ng/ml support healthy nerve function)
  • CBC
  • CMP (evaluation of kidney and liver function)
  • TSH, Free T3, and Free T4 (evaluate for low or high thyroid function)
  • TTG-IgA & EMA (for possible celiac disease)
  • heavy metal urine testing (see the end of the article for when to do this)

Functional Medicine Neuropathy Repair

Steps to repair nerve injury include:

removing the nerve insults

  • correcting abnormal labs including thyroid, Vitamin D, Vitamin B6, and Vitamin B12
  • stopping RX meds that may cause neuropathy
  • treating infections
  • correcting mold toxicity

repairing the nerve damage

  • repairing nerve cell and mitochondria power plant membranes,
  • increasing the master cell repair antioxidant glutathione,
  • increasing the nutrient Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10)
  • taking acetyl-l-carnitine if you do not eat red meat,
  • decreasing inflammation, and
  • using the peptide BPC-157.

Category:

Lyme, Supplements, Testing

Lyme-Induced Cardiac Problems Persist Despite Antibiotic Treatment

https://danielcameronmd.com/lyme-cardiac-antibiotic-treatment/

LYME-INDUCED CARDIAC PROBLEMS PERSIST DESPITE ANTIBIOTIC TREATMENT

lyme-cardiac

In their article, “An Unusual Presentation of Lyme Carditis and Adenosine-Sensitive Atrioventricular Block,” Alexandre and colleagues present the case of a 20-year-old female with Lyme disease and cardiac manifestations, who continued to experience cardiac problems despite 4 weeks of antibiotic treatment. [1]

By 

The young woman was admitted to the emergency department with acute pleuritic chest pain and shortness of breath. (Pleuritic chest pain is characterized by sudden and intense sharp, stabbing, or burning pain in the chest when inhaling and exhaling.)

The woman exhibited only mild tachycardia (100/min). However, “Considering the suspicion of acute myocarditis, the patient was admitted to an intensive cardiac care unit,” the authors state.

During hospitalization, cardiac monitoring revealed several asymptomatic episodes of paroxysmal AV block, including second-degree Mobitz I AV block, second degree AV block, and high-grade AV block.

Although there was no evidence of tick exposure or skin lesions, clinicians ordered testing for Lyme disease, which was positive by Western blot. “… an IgM Western-Blot test was performed, confirming positivity and recent Borrelia spp. infection.”

The patient was diagnosed with Lyme disease with cardiac manifestations of high-grade AV block. She was treated with a 4-week course of IV ceftriaxone, which led to a complete resolution of chest pain and shortness of breath.

However, the AV conduction disturbance continued after 4 weeks of antibiotic treatment. And subsequently, the woman was given an alternative diagnosis of extrinsic idiopathic paroxysmal AV block (“adenosine-sensitive AV block”).

This could be an extremely rare course of Lyme carditis, or the patient may have had asymptomatic AV conduction problems that surfaced when she developed Lyme disease, according to the authors.

“The patient was started on theophylline 400 mg twice daily, and after one week of treatment, the Holter monitoring demonstrated a significant reduction in AV conduction disturbances,” the authors state.

At her 18-month follow-up appointment, the woman continued to have fewer AV conduction disturbances, no cardiac complaints, and no need for a permanent pacemaker.

Authors conclude:

“This case illustrates a challenging scenario of [Lyme carditis] with high grade AV block, which persisted after appropriate antibiotic treatment and had key features supporting the diagnosis of extrinsic idiopathic paroxysmal AV block (‘adenosine sensitive AV block’).

References:
  1. Alexandre A, Ribeiro D, Sousa MJ, Reis H, Silveira J, Torres S. An Unusual Presentation of Lyme Carditis and Adenosine-Sensitive Atrioventricular Block. Arq Bras Cardiol. 2024 Jan;121(1):e20230228. Portuguese, English. doi: 10.36660/abc.20230228. PMID: 38324857.

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Category:

Heart Issues, Lyme, research, Testing, Treatment, Uncategorized