0 Article: Equine Borreliosis

Came across this article on equine Borreliosis, "The State of Lyme Disease".

If you are a horse owner, it's important to know the common symptoms of equine Lyme disease: shifting leg lameness, myalgia (muscle pain), dermal hypersensitivity, behavior changes, weight loss, uveitis, and neurological signs.

Sounds similar to the symptoms that people get with Lyme disease.

An interesting point to be made in this article is about the value of retesting in horses:

"It is also difficult to determine response to treatment with serological testing, because B. burgdorferi antibody levels are known to persist for years in humans and are also apparently long-lived in horses. Retesting is suggested four to six months after treatment to see if there is a decrease in serological values. This retesting can be questionable in determining response to treatment because horses are likely to be exposed and possibly reinfected post-treatment if living in areas of high tick density."

So, is the implication here that a decrease in values on a blood test is sign of progress against the disease?

It's true that if the horse is exposed and reinfected post-treatment in an endemic area that having shown a long-lived antibody response from a previous infection makes a new test result less useful. At the same time, a horse could have been reinfected, so then one has to look at a clinical diagnosis based on symptoms for a diagnosis. This is another thing which is similar for people with Lyme disease.

Having a more solid direct detection test which could distinguish between an active infection and past infection would be excellent. What does it take to create a test like this for Lyme disease?

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4 Admin Update: Scavenger Hunt Extension, Vote On Topics, Busyness

To my readers:

Hope you have been having a decent week and that this weekend is a good one, too.

As for me... I have been either busy or markedly unwell during the past week and a half, thus the slow down in posting frequency here.

I think there's a correlation there, too: Any time I do not get enough rest and push a little more than I should, I end up paying for it.  This has been what has happened recently, and today I had a really hard time getting out of bed.

Hopefully this weekend will be better.

Lyme Disease Research Scavenger Hunt Announcement

Regarding the Lyme Disease Research Scavenger Hunt, I am giving participants an additional week. Please submit your entries for Round Three no later than next Friday, October 14th, 12 am Hawaiian Time.

After the 14th, if no entries have been submitted for Round Four, I will post the answers for both Round Three and Round Four.

I expect the game will have a few more rounds through November, at which point the winner will get to pick the topic of their choice related to Lyme disease and coinfections which I will hand illustrate.

Request For Feedback: Vote For One Of Next Week's Post Topics

I'm outlining some upcoming topics for new posts and would like to hear from feedback from you.

Which of the following are of the most interest to you? How would you rank them in order of importance?

1. Why is (or isn't) neuroborreliosis a big problem?
   
2. Commentary: Scientific rigor and providing evidence for chronic Lyme disease
   
3. Commentary: Why (and how) contracting Lyme disease has driven me crazy
   
4. Lyme disease animal studies
   
5. Part 2:The Value of Anecdotal Evidence (Here's a link to Part 1.)
   
6. Other: _________________ (topic YOU think is important to read about)

Keeping it simple for now, narrowing it down to these few choices.

Okay, I'm going to call it a night. I'm tired.

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0 Blog Log: Spirochetes Unwound on Flawed Study of Topical Antibiotics

Remember that article on topical azithromycin I posted earlier this month?

Our favorite spirochete blogger has some criticism about the research on which it was based here:

http://spirochetesunwound.blogspot.com/2011/09/flawed-study-claiming-prevention-of.html

A flawed study claiming prevention of Lyme spirochete infection with topical antibiotics

Two recent papers tested the effectiveness of topical antibiotics in preventing Borrelia burgdorferi infection in mice following a tick bite. Infection by the Lyme disease spirochete was successfully halted in the Knauer et al. study from Germany1 but not in the Wormser et al. study conducted in New York.2 However a flaw in the Knauer study may have unfairly tipped the outcome in the antbiotic's favor. (I'll save the Wormser study for another post.)

READ MORE HERE >>>

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1 LDA-Columbia Lyme 2011 Conference Line-up

On October 1 and 2, there will be a combined LDA/Columbia-Lyme Conference held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Below is an outline of the conference speakers and topics...

Keynote Speaker: J. William Costerton, PhD
The Role of Biofilms in Chronic Bacterial Infections

Eva Sapi, PhD
Killing Borrelia: An impossible job?

Jason A. Carlyon, PhD
Interior Decorating: Anaplasma phagocytophilum Remodels Its Host Cell-Derived Vacuole into A Protective Niche

Richard Marconi, PhD, Co-Course Director
c-di-GMP Regulates Key Steps in the Enzootic Cycle of Tick-Borne Spirochetes

Chris Earnhart, PhD
Lyme disease vaccine: an update on recent progress

Dr. Ed Masters Memorial Lecture: Robert S. Lane, PhD
Diversity of Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. genospecies and genotypes in California, and Implications for human infection.

M. Karen Newell Rogers, PhD
A New Model of Intervention for Lyme Disease by Targeting Chronic Inflammation and Selective Aspects of Immune Activation

Robert Yolken, MD
Infections and Human Neuropsychiatric Diseases

Josep Dalmau, MD, PhD
Clinical spectrum and cellular mechanisms of autoimmunity to NMDA and other synaptic receptors

Dr. John Drulle Memorial Lecture: John Aucott, MD
Early microbiologic and immunologic events in Lyme disease

Reinhard K. Straubinger, PhD
Canine and equine Lyme borreliosis – The animals’ perspective of the disease.

Benjamin J. Luft, MD
Diagnostics: update on protein arrays and new Lyme assays

Brian Fallon, MD, Co-Course Director
What is Chronic Lyme Disease? Models and evidence

Andrew W. Walter, MD
Update on Ehrlichiosis and Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis in Children

Andrea Gaito, MD
Clinical Evaluation and treatment of Lyme Arthritis; An autoimmune perspective

Ingeborg Dziedzic, MD
What everyone should know about Eyes & Lyme Disease

Vijay Thadani, MD
Epilepsy update: Distinguishing Epileptic from Non-epileptic seizures

Steve Bock, MD
Complementary and Integrative Medical approaches to Chronic Tick-borne Disease

Elizabeth Maloney, MD
The treatment of Lyme disease - a critical review of the literature – lessons, gaps, and future research needs

---

I think this conference holds more scientific weight to it than other Lyme disease-related conferences I've seen, so if anyone is going to be in Philly and attends, please take notes to share with us all.

(I won't be able to attend as I have a previous commitment scheduled before I knew this conference was going to be held at this time in October.)

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0 Round Three: Lyme Disease Research Scavenger Hunt

I gave readers an extension until midnight of Friday the 23rd for participating on Round Two of the Lyme Disease Research Scavenger Hunt, and so far, no one has completed both Part A and Part B of Round Two.

Because of this, no one qualifies for Round Two and that round is forfeit. Readers playing along at home will have to compete in the remaining rounds and complete both Part A and Part B. So far, we have one winner of Round One, Rita.

(The answers to Round Two will be posted in a separate upcoming entry.)

Now I'll present those who wish to play along with our basic game instructions and round three of the scavenger hunt:

This is an online scavenger hunt to determine which Lyme disease research being conducted in which universities and colleges involves or has involved members of the 2006 Lyme disease guidelines group.

How to play:

I'm going to list Lyme disease related research either completed or currently being done in Column A, and in Column B, list the educational institution where the research was (or is) being conducted.

Match the research in Column A with the correct educational institution in Column B.

THEN determine if members of the department involved are A) currently doing research with a member of the 2006 Lyme disease guideline authors or B) have worked on any research in a past with said guideline author(s).

Write your matches and mentions of any guideline authors in a comment and submit your comment for posting.

You can use google, Wikipedia, and any on and offline tools for your answers.

Roughly two weeks after I post a round, I'll post the correct answers as well as post the next round of the game. I intend to run the game for several weeks - end date to be announced later.

If anyone wins all rounds, after that win is confirmed, the next post I write will be based on the winner's selected topic of choice and include hand-drawn illustrations by me.

Round Three: Lyme Disease Scavenger Hunt

Research Description	Educational Institution
1) Lyme arthritis is an inflammatory disease with periods of inflammation and resolution. Eicosanoids are powerful lipid mediators of inflammatory responses which may be involved in disease processes. Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) is upregulated during injury or infection and catalyzes the production of prostaglandins from arachidonic acid. Several commercially available drugs block this response (celebrex, vioxx) and act to suppress the symptoms of chronic inflammation (pain and swelling), but their effect on underlying disease processes is currently unknown. Treatment of mice infected with B. burgdorferi with these compounds does not inhibit their ability to develop Lyme arthritis, but it does prevent its natural resolution. Current experiments are exploring the mechanism for this examining: altered prostaglandin production; increased leukotriene production; and decreased lipoxin production.	A) University of Tennessee
2) iNKT cells play an important immunoregulatory role within the immune system. This function is regulated by endogenous and exogenous glycolipid antigen presentation by CD1d molecules. Thus, by using Borellia burgdorferi, the agent of Lyme disease, as the model system, we are working to elucidate the molecules involved with and the mechanism(s) of CD1d-antigen assembly. Additionally, by understanding how antigens load onto CD1d we can determine the molecular and structural features of the iNKT cell receptor-antigen interface. Elucidating glycolipid antigen processing and presentation and its recognition by iNKT cells will allow insights into how different responses are induced and how these immunoregulatory T lymphocytes function. This insight will advance our understanding of the physiological role of the CD1d antigen presentation system and iNKT cells within the context of the immune system.	B) University of Missouri
3) One major project is the development of a Reservoir Target Vaccine for the Control of Lyme Borreliosis. Borrelia burgdorferi causes Lyme disease (LD) and is the most common vector borne infectious disease in the United States. This spirochete is maintained in endemic areas of LD by cycling between wildlife reservoirs (i. e. white-footed mice, shrews, etc) and the Ixodes scapularis tick vector. Human disseminated infection can cause permanent damage to the nervous and musculoskeletal systems and currently, there is no vaccine approved for prevention of this disease. A promising method to reduce human LD incidence is to break the mouse-tick transmission cycle by eliminating the spirochete from the reservoir and from the ticks that feed on them. To accomplish this we have developed a wildlife oral bait vaccine based in OspA and are currently testing its efficacy in a field trial.	C) Vanderbilt University

There is much to learn from playing this game in and of itself that you gain something whether you win or lose. (I also have a point to make in playing it, and I'll reveal it at the end of the series... It might not be the point you suspect I'm going to make.)

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1 The Curious Case Of Cholesterol

This article got passed on to me:

Scientists Disarm AIDS Virus’ Attack on Immune System
http://www.voanews.com/english/news/health/-Scientists-Disarm-AIDS-Virus-Attack-on-Immune-System-130313993.html

And you might be looking at that title, wondering what HIV has to do with Lyme disease.

Well, I'm wondering if there is any relationship...

Excerpt:

"Scientists say they have found a way to disarm the AIDS virus in research that could lead to a vaccine. Researchers have discovered that if they eliminate a cholesterol membrane surrounding the virus, HIV cannot disrupt communication among disease-fighting cells and the immune system returns to normal.

Scientists have discovered that HIV needs cholesterol, which it picks up from the first immune cells it infects, to keep the virus' outer membrane fluid. That allows it to communicate with - and disrupt - the body's immune system."

Chlamydia apparently has a membrane with cholesterol in it, as does Borrelia burgdorferi (review this entry posted on Friday). I wonder if Borrelia burgdorferi can do the same thing to the immune system that HIV does? Does it disrupt communication among disease-fighting cells, too? It certainly does evade the immune system even though the immune system gives it a huge response when present.

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