tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4073397588746430486.post8271559575172877557..comments2023-10-30T22:11:21.083-10:00Comments on Lyme Disease, Science, And Society: Camp Other: Antibiotic Resistance and Persisters In Lyme diseaseCamp Otherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10224408965529778101noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4073397588746430486.post-52539219104128116682014-11-18T08:56:29.732-10:002014-11-18T08:56:29.732-10:00Hi Curtis,
Thanks - glad you enjoyed reading it.
...Hi Curtis,<br /><br />Thanks - glad you enjoyed reading it.<br /><br />Daptomycin does penetrate the blood brain barrier, but it has minimal penetration cited anywhere from 2-3% up to 5-6% in the CNS. It's been effective in treating bacterial meningitis, but it's unknown how effective it would be for treating neuroborreliosis - particularly if it affects the brain directly. <br /><br />This is why I emphasize that the above studies are <i>in vitro</i> studies, too, and not <i>in vivo</i>. We don't yet know how effective these agents will be in animals - let alone people - for treating Borrelia infections. It's also possible that experiments will be conducted using a combination of antibiotics and antifungals, and there may be a synergy between them which facilities permeability of the blood-brain barrier and allows for greater saturation. I don't know, and more experiments would need to be conducted. I think this is the next step the researchers mentioned may be taking, too.<br /><br />COCamp Otherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10224408965529778101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4073397588746430486.post-67208356691190758632014-11-13T08:25:02.812-10:002014-11-13T08:25:02.812-10:00Great article. I've read that daptomycin does ...Great article. I've read that daptomycin does not penetrate the blood brain barrier. Wouldn't this be problematic for treating a bacterial infection that is known to traverse the blood brain barrier?Curtishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00455740959283392254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4073397588746430486.post-37199711968638947552014-08-16T11:18:56.219-10:002014-08-16T11:18:56.219-10:00Hi Anuska, and welcome to Camp Other blog!
I'...Hi Anuska, and welcome to Camp Other blog!<br /><br />I'm glad you got something out of this entry. I tried to make it easy and provide simple illustrations for examples. <br /><br />Regarding your question: <br /><br />If you use an antibiotic repeatedly and there IS a chronic infection and you experience improvement, then symptoms keep recurring, it can be for a variety of reasons: <br /><br />1) There could be an infection with persister cells in which some are being killed off because they are no longer dormant and in a sensitive state (sensitive to the particular antibiotics given).<br />2) It could be the bacteria did acquire resistance. So far this hasn't been discovered in <i>Borrelia burgdorferi</i> as I've stated above - though it is naturally resistant to certain antibiotics to begin with. But so far, no one has found an example in research of it acquiring resistance in human patients.<br />3) It could be that the infection has been eradicated and there is some immune dysregulation and inflammation going on and antibiotics have an impact on that dysregulation and inflammation.<br />4) A combination of any of the above.<br /><br />I make these statements based on bacterial infections in general - not so much <i>Borrelia burgdorferi</i> in specific. It is still not 100% clear what is happening in patients with persisting symptoms (including myself) and why some respond better to additional antibiotics than others.<br /><br />My guess would be that it <i>wouldn't</i> be resistance for those who find some relief from taking antibiotics, based on what is known about <i>B. burgdorferi</i>. But there's a whole lot we need to learn about it.<br /><br />For an idea of how other bacteria can respond to different antibiotics at different times during the course of infection when it has persisters, you might want to check out this video about the Mitchinson Hypothesis regading tuberculosis:<br /><br /><a href="http://youtu.be/pdpoAvjCX70" rel="nofollow">John McKinney (EPFL) Part 3: Phenotypic Heterogeneity and Antibiotic Tolerance</a> - video [27 miinutes]<br /><br />I apologize that it is somewhat complicated, but it may shed light on how antibiotics can affect specific bacteria and how certain antibiotics are better treatment than others at different points in time.<br /><br />COCamp Otherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10224408965529778101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4073397588746430486.post-30684204223929178322014-08-13T20:57:25.181-10:002014-08-13T20:57:25.181-10:00Hi Camp Other, thank you for this easy to read exp...Hi Camp Other, thank you for this easy to read explanation on persister cells and antibiotics resistance. I still have to re-read it - my brain is "lazy" these days…you know brain fog.<br /><br />But one question just of the cuff, if you don't mind. What do you think happens if you use an antibiotic repeatedly in a what seems a chronic infection, there is an improvement of symptoms, but the the infection(s) keep reoccurring (flare up of symptoms after a few days or weeks)? Is this now a sign of persister cells or an acquired antibiotic resistance, or both ? Best wishes AnushkaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com