Publications

'nothing is permanent but change'- antigenic variation in persistent bacterial pathogens.	pathogens persist in immunocompetent mammalian hosts using various strategies, including evasion of immune effectors by antigenic variation. among highly antigenically variant bacteria, gene conversion is used to generate novel expressed variants from otherwise silent donor sequences. recombination using oligonucleotide segments from multiple donors is a combinatorial mechanism that tremendously expands the variant repertoire, allowing thousands of variants to be generated from a relatively smal ...	2009	19709057
risk indicators for the tick ixodes ricinus and borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato in sweden.	the distributional area of the tick ixodes ricinus (l.), the primary european vector to humans of lyme borreliosis spirochaetes (borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato) and tick-borne encephalitis virus, appears to be increasing in sweden. it is therefore important to determine which environmental factors are most useful to assess risk of human exposure to this tick and its associated pathogens. the geographical distribution of i. ricinus in sweden was analysed with respect to vegetation zones and clim ...	2009	19712153
a traveler with neurobrucellosis.	an indian traveler developed fever and neurological symptoms after a visit to east africa. he was treated with suramin, melarsoprol and prednisolone for presumed east african trypanosomiasis. his condition deteriorated and cerebral lesions developed. neurobrucellosis was diagnosed. combination antibiotic therapy led to gradual clinical improvement and regression of the brain lesions. misdiagnosis of east african trypanosomiasis followed by treatment with potentially lethal medication should be a ...	2009	19717103
[45-year-old woman with joint pain and suspected lyme arthritis].		2009	19718595
managing japanese barberry (ranunculales: berberidaceae) infestations reduces blacklegged tick (acari: ixodidae) abundance and infection prevalence with borrelia burgdorferi (spirochaetales: spirochaetaceae).	in many connecticut forests with an overabundance of white-tailed deer (odocoileus virginianus zimmermann), japanese barberry (berberis thunbergii dc) has become the dominant understory shrub, which may provide a habitat favorable to blacklegged tick (ixodes scapularis say) and white-footed mouse (peromyscus leucopus rafinesque) survival. to determine mouse and larval tick abundances at three replicate sites over 2 yr, mice were trapped in unmanipulated dense barberry infestations, areas where b ...	2009	19689875
tick-borne relapsing fever in a new highland endemic focus of western iran.	tick-borne relapsing fever (tbrf) is a neglected zoonotic disease caused by infection with spirochaetes of the genus borrelia. humans usually contract it from the bite of infected soft ticks of the genus ornithodoros. in iran, where the disease is endemic in the mountainous north-western provinces, reports of over 200 cases annually probably under-estimate the true incidence. the species, distribution and infection of ticks that are potential vectors of borrelia and the clinical and epidemiologi ...	2009	19695158
psychiatric comorbidity and other psychological factors in patients with "chronic lyme disease".	there is no evidence of current or previous borrelia burgdorferi infection in most patients evaluated at university-based lyme disease referral centers. instead, psychological factors likely exacerbate the persistent diffuse symptoms or "chronic multisymptom illness" (cmi) incorrectly ascribed to an ongoing chronic infection with b. burgdorferi. the objective of this study was to assess the medical and psychiatric status of such patients and compare these findings to those from patients without ...	2009	19699380
borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato species in europe induce diverse immune responses against c6 peptides in infected mice.	the diversity of lyme-borreliosis-inducing borrelia species in europe set high standards for the use of serodiagnostic test systems in terms of specificity and sensitivity. in the united states, the one-step c6 antibody test system based on the invariable domain ir6 of the vlse molecule has been established as a successful diagnostic tool for testing canine samples. however, only a limited set of data are available regarding the antigenicity of the c6 peptides in an experimental murine model and ...	2009	19726618
[peripheral facial palsy caused by lyme disease].		2009	19729353
[detection of tick and tick-borne pathogen in some ports of inner mongolia].	to investigate the distribution, composition and situation of natural infection pathogen of tick species in the main ports of inner mongolia.	2009	19731529
pathogen translocation across the blood-brain barrier.	neurological manifestations caused by neuroinvading pathogens are typically attributed to penetration of the blood-brain barrier (bbb) and invasion of the central nervous system. however, the mechanisms used by many pathogens (such as borrelia) to traverse the bbb are still unclear. recent studies revealed that microbial translocation across the bbb must involve a repertoire of microbial-host interactions (receptor-ligand interactions). however, the array of interacting molecules responsible for ...	2009	19732140
assortative pairing in ixodes ricinus (acari: ixodidae), the european vector of lyme borreliosis.	in sexual organisms, the way in which gametes associate can greatly influence the maintenance of genetic variation, the structure of this variation in space, and ultimately organismal evolution. based on patterns of genetic structure previously found, we explicitly tested whether adults of the sheep tick ixodes ricinus pair according to their genetic relatedness. we sampled tick pairs from the vegetation in four natural populations and genotyped individual ticks at seven microsatellite loci. bas ...	2009	19496415
characterization of borrelia burgdorferi aggregates.	lyme disease is caused by the tick-borne spirochete, borrelia burgdorferi. it has been documented that b. burgdorferi form aggregates within ticks and during in vitro culture. however, borrelia aggregates remain poorly characterized, and their functional significance is unknown. here we have characterized borrelia aggregates using microscopy and flow cytometry. borrelia aggregation was temperature, ph, and growth phase dependent. environmental conditions (high temperature, low ph, and high cell ...	2009	19499997
detection of different borrelia burgdorferi genospecies in serum of people with different occupational risks: short report.	this study is aimed at applying a previously described pcr-based method to detect b. burgdorferi sensu lato and different borrelia genospecies in total dna preparations of serum samples collected from people with different occupational risks for tick bite and with serological evidence of borreliosis. among the seropositive samples, the pcr for b. burgdorferi confirmed the positivity in 65 percent of the forestry workers and in 60 percent of the subjects living in the same area. none of the seron ...	2009	19505407
fast, adaptive evolution at a bacterial host-resistance locus: the pfam54 gene array in borrelia burgdorferi.	microbial pathogens have evolved sophisticated mechanisms for evasion of host innate and adaptive immunities. pfam54 is the largest paralogous gene family in the genomes of borrelia burgdorferi, the lyme disease bacterium. one member of pfam54, the complement-regulator acquiring surface proteins 1 (bbcrasp-1), is able to abort the alternative pathway of complement activation via binding human complement-regulator factor h (fh). the gene coding for bbcrasp-1 exists in a tandem array of pfam54 gen ...	2009	19505540
borrelial fasciitis: as yet insufficient proof for a distinct entity.	the clinical picture of diffuse fasciitis is described in three male patients, living in a highly borreliosis endemic region. we discuss the likelihood of a causal relationship with a borrelia infection.	2009	19506881
complex population structure of lyme borreliosis group spirochete borrelia garinii in subarctic eurasia.	borrelia garinii, a causative agent of lyme borreliosis in europe and asia, is naturally maintained in marine and terrestrial enzootic cycles, which primarily involve birds, including seabirds and migratory passerines. these bird groups associate with, correspondingly, ixodes uriae and ixodes ricinus ticks, of which the latter species may bite and transmit the infection to humans. studies of the overlap between these two natural cycles of b. garinii have been limited, in part due to the absence ...	2009	19513109
implications of gender in chronic lyme disease.	"post-lyme disease syndrome" refers to prolonged subjective symptoms after antibiotic treatment and resolution of an objective manifestation of borrelia burgdorferi infection (lyme disease). "chronic lyme disease" is a vaguely defined term that has been applied to patients with unexplained prolonged subjective symptoms, whether or not there was or is evidence of b. burgdorferi infection.	2009	19514824
[stari--a new tick borne spirochetosis].	southern tick associated rash illness (stari), also known as masters disease is caused by borrelia lonestari spirochetes and it is transmitted by amblyomma americanum tick. early symptoms of stari are similar to early lyme borreliosis (skin rash resembling erythema migrans). in diagnostic of stari traditional methods are not effective. the decision of antibiotic treatment (similar to lyme borreliosis) still remain based on clinical picture.	2009	19522220
[borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato in ixodid ticks from ostrava slag heaps].	in 2005 and 2006, ixodes ricinus ticks were collected on two slag (waste rock) heaps from coal mines in the ostrava area (north moravia/silesia, czech republic), oskar (site a) and emma (site b), partially covered by vegetation including trees, and at a control forest site near hlucín (site c). the mean numbers of l. ricinus nymphs and imagoes flagged per person-hour were high: 35.3 nymphs and 12.7 imagoes, at site a, 23.3 and 26.0, respectively, at site b, and 25.4 and 16.8, respectively, at co ...	2009	19526923
urban and rural risks of lyme disease in the scottish highlands.	this paper investigates the pattern of lyme disease testing and infection within the highland region of scotland.	2009	19530498
[climate changes and emerging diseases. what new infectious diseases and health problem can be expected?].	increasing temperatures, but also other climatic factors, will have an impact on human health. apart from the direct consequences of extreme weather conditions (e.g., heat-related fatalities), indirect health consequences in the long-term are also of great importance. in addition to a likely increase in allergic diseases and additional complications in the course of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, infectious diseases are of particular interest. in germany, endemic pathogens, such as han ...	2009	19536444
a grand view of the flagellar motor.		2009	19542284
a new borrelia species defined by multilocus sequence analysis of housekeeping genes.	analysis of lyme borreliosis (lb) spirochetes, using a novel multilocus sequence analysis scheme, revealed that ospa serotype 4 strains (a rodent-associated ecotype) of borrelia garinii were sufficiently genetically distinct from bird-associated b. garinii strains to deserve species status. we suggest that ospa serotype 4 strains be raised to species status and named borrelia bavariensis sp. nov. the rooted phylogenetic trees provide novel insights into the evolutionary history of lb spirochetes ...	2009	19542332
downstream signals for myd88-mediated phagocytosis of borrelia burgdorferi can be initiated by trif and are dependent on pi3k.	we previously have shown that myd88 is important for uptake of borrelia burgdorferi by bone marrow derived macrophages (bmdms). the mechanism by which myd88 is involved in uptake of b. burgdorferi is currently is not well characterized. here, we report that myd88-mediated defect in the phagocytosis of b. burgdorferi can be complemented by tlr3/toll/il-1r domain-containing adaptor-inducing ifn-beta (trif) activation in bmdms from myd88(-/-) mice. this effect of tlr3/trif activation was not due to ...	2009	19542460
a borreliacidal factor in amblyomma americanum saliva is associated with phospholipase a(2) activity.	previous work in our laboratory described the in vitro killing of borrelia burgdorferi when co-cultured with saliva from adult amblyomma americanum. borreliacidal activity was not evident using ixodes scapularis saliva. mixing trypsin with saliva eliminated the borreliacidal activity of a. americanum saliva, while incorporating a trypsin inhibitor restored all borreliacidal activity, indicating this factor was of protein or peptide origin. one dimensional page indicated at least 7 major protein ...	2009	19545533
the bactericidal effect of a complement-independent antibody is osmolytic and specific to borrelia.	a complement-independent bactericidal igg1 against the ospb of borrelia burgdorferi increased the permeability of the outer membrane through the creation of openings of 2.8 - 4.4 nm, resulting in its osmotic lysis. cryo-electron microscopy and tomography demonstrated that exposure to the antibody causes the formation of outer membrane projections and large breaks which may precede the increase in permeability of the outer membrane. the bactericidal effect of this antibody is not transferable to ...	2009	19549817
tick-borne zoonotic bacteria in ticks collected from central spain.	the prevalence of tick-borne and related bacteria infecting adult ticks in central spain was assessed by molecular methods. six areas were sampled monthly during a 2-year longitudinal study. a total of 1,038 questing and 442 feeding ticks, belonging to eight different species, were tested. the most abundant species were hyalomma lusitanicum (54% of captures), followed by dermacentor marginatus (23%) and rhipicephalus sanguineus (10%). four human pathogens, including seven rickettsia species, ana ...	2009	19556569
identification of the determinant conferring permissive substrate usage in the telomere resolvase, rest.	linear genome stability requires specialized telomere replication and protection mechanisms. a common solution to this problem in non-eukaryotes is the formation of hairpin telomeres by telomere resolvases (also known as protelomerases). these enzymes perform a two-step transesterification on replication intermediates to generate hairpin telomeres using an active site similar to that of tyrosine recombinases and type ib topoisomerases. unlike phage telomere resolvases, the telomere resolvase fro ...	2009	19561077
lyme disease--current state of knowledge.	lyme disease is the most frequent tick-borne infectious disease in europe. the discovery of the causative pathogen borrelia burgdorferi in 1982 opened the way for the firm diagnosis of diseases in several clinical disciplines and for causal antibiotic therapy. at the same time, speculation regarding links between borrelia infection and a variety of nonspecific symptoms and disorders resulted in overdiagnosis and overtreatment of suspected lyme disease.	2009	19562015
reply to letter by nardelli and schell commenting on the pathogenesis of lyme arthritis.		2009	19565494
analysis of borrelia burgdorferi genotypes in patients with lyme arthritis: high frequency of ribosomal rna intergenic spacer type 1 strains in antibiotic-refractory arthritis.	most of the borrelia burgdorferi genotypes have been isolated from erythema migrans (em) skin lesions in patients with lyme disease. ospc type k strains, which are 16s-23s ribosomal rna intergenic spacer type 2 (rst2) strains, are most commonly recovered, but a higher percentage of ospc type a strains (rst1), the next most commonly recovered type, is detectable in blood. the goal of this study was to determine the b burgdorferi genotypes in the joints of patients with lyme arthritis.	2009	19565522
lyme borreliosis: a european perspective on diagnosis and clinical management.	lyme borreliosis has been widely recognized in europe, but diagnostic and therapy concepts are still a matter for discussion. false-positive microbiologic results can lead to unnecessary antibiotic treatment, which even in genuine cases is sometimes unnecessarily prolonged. this review addresses new research on diagnosis, treatment, and eco-epidemiology.	2009	19571749
adaptation factors of borrelia for host and vector.	the life transmission cycle of b. burgdorferi requires migration of spirochetes from tick's gut to its salivary glands during vertebrate's blood sucking, penetrating to the vertebrate's tissues and their colonization. a special feature of these bacteria, despite its relatively small genome, is the ability to adapt in different host environments. these unusual properties of borreliae are associated with large number of plasmids, which show a high variability as a result of recombination with each ...	2009	19572471
detectability of tick-borne agents dna in the blood of dogs, undergoing treatment for borreliosis.	in the wake of controversies surrounding the usefulness of pcr in the diagnostics of borreliosis, the aim of the presented study was to monitor the presence of b. burgdorferi s.l. in dogs with clinical borreliosis in the course of relevant treatment. the monitoring was based on detecting borrelia's dna before- (study i), during- (study ii), and after completion of the therapy (study iii). in addition, to rule out possible coinfections, the dogs' blood was examined for the presence of anaplasma, ...	2009	19572472
adamantiades behçet disease triggered by a tick bite and or borrelia infection.		2009	19573027
current surveys on the prevalence and distribution of dirofilaria spp. in dogs in germany.	the central upper-rhine (baden-württemberg, germany) is one of the warmest regions in germany and also harbours abundant numbers of mosquitoes. case reports on presumably autochthonous occurrence of dirofilaria spp. were reported previously and were a reason for a further investigation into the occurrence of vector-borne pathogens. for this purpose, 44 hunting dogs from the central upper-rhine region were tested between 4(th) and 29(th) june 2007. the blood samples were tested using the knott's ...	2009	19575227
occurrence of dirofilaria immitis and tick-borne infections caused by anaplasma phagocytophilum, borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato and ehrlichia canis in domestic dogs in france: results of a countrywide serologic survey.	the occurrence of dirofilaria immitis antigen and antibodies against tick-borne pathogens in french dogs has been analysed based on 1,050 blood samples. serum samples of 919 dogs (group a) were sent for a variety of diagnostic investigations, further 131 dogs (group b) were tested for a tentative diagnosis of heartworm disease. all samples were tested for d. immitis antigen. samples in group a were also tested for specific antibodies against three tick-borne pathogens (anaplasma phagocytophilum, ...	2009	19575231
comprehensive seroprofiling of sixteen b. burgdorferi ospc: implications for lyme disease diagnostics design.	early diagnosis of lyme disease (ld) is critical to successful treatment. however, current serodiagnostic tests do not reliably detect antibodies during early infection. ospc induces a potent early immune response and is also one of the most diverse proteins in the borrelia proteome. yet, at least 70% of the amino acid sequence is conserved among all 21 known ospc types. we performed a series of comprehensive seroprofiling studies to select the ospc types that have the most cross-reactive immuno ...	2009	19576856
rapid detection of borrelia burgdorferi strains by nested polymerase chain reaction.	this study was carried out to evaluate the nested pcr for specific detection of different strains of b. burgdorferi. five strains of b. burgdorferi including aca-1, b-31, 2b45, 3b45, 7b49 obtained from different countries were used in this study. the strains of b. hermsii, escherichia. coli and t. pallidum were also included as control strains. two pairs of nested pcr primers were used to amplify the gene encoding the osp-a protein of b. burgdorfer under standard pcr condition. in a two stage pr ...	2009	19579990
toll-like receptors mediate induction of hepcidin in mice infected with borrelia burgdorferi.	hepcidin is the major regulator of systemic iron homeostasis in mammals. hepcidin is produced mainly by the liver and is increased by inflammation, leading to hypoferremia. we measured serum levels of bioactive hepcidin and its effects on serum iron levels in mice infected with borrelia burgdorferi. bioactive hepcidin was elevated in the serum of mice resulting in hypoferremia. infected mice produced hepcidin in both liver and spleen. both intact and sonicated b burgdorferi induced hepcidin expr ...	2009	19587376
[enlarged lymph nodes, fever, abdominal cramps, numbness in arm and leg. deciding evidence in the gluteal fold].		2009	19591341
bioinformatic comparison of bacterial secretomes.	the rapid increasing number of completed bacterial genomes provides a good opportunity to compare their proteomes. this study was undertaken to specifically compare and contrast their secretomes-the fraction of the proteome with predicted n-terminal signal sequences, both type i and type ii. a total of 176 theoretical bacterial proteomes were examined using the exprot program. compared with the gram-positives, the gram-negative bacteria were found, on average, to contain a larger number of poten ...	2009	19591790
dna-binding by haemophilus influenzae and escherichia coli ybab, members of a widely-distributed bacterial protein family.	genes orthologous to the ybab loci of escherichia coli and haemophilus influenzae are widely distributed among eubacteria. several years ago, the three-dimensional structures of the ybab orthologs of both e. coli and h. influenzae were determined, revealing a novel "tweezer"-like structure. however, a function for ybab had remained elusive, with an early study of the h. influenzae ortholog failing to detect dna-binding activity. our group recently determined that the borrelia burgdorferi ybab or ...	2009	19594923
high-throughput screening identifies three inhibitor classes of the telomere resolvase from the lyme disease spirochete.	lyme disease, the most common vector-borne zoonosis in north america, is caused by the spirochetal pathogen borrelia burgdorferi. the telomere resolvase encoded by this organism (rest) promotes the formation of covalently closed hairpin ends on the linear dna molecules of b. burgdorferi through a two-step transesterification. rest is essential for survival and is therefore an attractive target for the development of highly specific antiborrelial drugs. to identify rest inhibitors, a novel fluore ...	2009	19596868
antibiotic treatment of animals infected with borrelia burgdorferi.	despite resolution of the objective manifestations of lyme disease after antibiotic treatment, a minority of patients have fatigue, musculoskeletal pain, and/or difficulties with concentration or short-term memory of uncertain etiology; these are called post-lyme disease symptoms or, in more severe cases, post-lyme disease syndrome or "chronic lyme disease." several recent studies in which borrelia burgdorferi-infected animals were treated with antibiotic therapy have demonstrated the presence o ...	2009	19597005
prevalence of taste disorders in idiopathic and b. burgdorferi-associated facial palsy.	the frequency of taste disorders in idiopathic facial palsy (ifp) and b. burgdorferi-associated facial palsy (bfp) was retrospectively assessed in a cohort of patients with acute peripheral facial palsy (afp). a significant (>10/microl) csf pleocytosis was found in 17% of the patients who underwent lumbar puncture for afp. in two centres, 26 patients with bfp were identified by csf and serological criteria. the control group (patients with ifp) consisted of 59 patients from one of the centres in ...	2009	19603242
complement factor h binding by different lyme disease and relapsing fever borrelia in animals and human.	borreliae employ multiple immune evasive strategies such as binding to complement regulatory proteins [factor h (fh) and factor h like-1 (fhl1)], differential regulation of surface membrane proteins, antigenic variation, and binding of plasminogen/plasmin and matrix metalloproteinases. as a complement regulatory subunit, fh serves as a cofactor for the factor i-mediated cleavage of c3b. fh binding by borrelia has been correlated with pathogenesis as well as with host diversity. here we show the ...	2009	19604355
comparative analysis of the properties and ligand binding characteristics of cspz, a factor h binding protein, derived from borrelia burgdorferi isolates of human origin.	borrelia burgdorferi cspz (bbh06/bbcrasp-2) binds the complement regulatory protein factor h (fh) and additional unidentified serum proteins. the goals of this study were to assess the ligand binding capability of cspz orthologs derived from an extensive panel of human lyme disease isolates and to further define the molecular basis of the interaction between fh and cspz. while most b. burgdorferi cspz orthologs analyzed bound fh, specific, naturally occurring polymorphisms, most of which cluster ...	2009	19620346
[assessment of rate of infection with agents of bacterial infections in ticks captured on one of the moscow park terrains].	to study the rate of infection of ticks captured one of the moscow park terrains with bacteria (agents of tick borreliosis and anaplasmosis).	2009	19621812
current issues in relapsing fever.	relapsing fever has the highest incidence of any bacterial disease in africa and a massive epidemic potential due to current political turmoil in the horn of africa. this review focuses on recent advances in diagnostics, molecular biology and host-pathogen interactions.	2009	19623064
tick-borne relapsing fever and borrelia hermsii, los angeles county, california, usa.	the primary cause of tick-borne relapsing fever in western north america is borrelia hermsii, a rodent-associated spirochete transmitted by the fast-feeding soft tick ornithodoros hermsi. we describe a patient who had an illness consistent with relapsing fever after exposure in the mountains near los angeles, california, usa. the patient's convalescent-phase serum was seropositive for b. hermsii but negative for several other vector-borne bacterial pathogens. investigations at the exposure site ...	2009	19624916
coincidence of three pathogens (borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, anaplasma phagocytophilum and babesia microti) in ixodes ricinus ticks in the lublin macroregion.	ticks are very important vectors of pathogenic microorganisms (viruses, bacteria, protozoans), which may induce serious contagious diseases in humans and in farm animals. the aim of the study was to determine the coincidence of 3 pathogens: borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, anaplasma phagocytophilum and babesia microti in ixodes ricinus ticks in south-eastern poland and to estimate the degree of infection with each of the examined pathogens depending on the developmental stage of ticks (nymph, fe ...	2009	19630205
avian spirochetosis in chickens following experimental transmission of borrelia anserina by argas (persicargas) miniatus.	this study reports the experimental transmission of borrelia anserina to domestic chickens by infected argas (persicargas) miniatus. clinical alterations as well as prepatent and patent periods were evaluated. twenty-seven 67-day-old birds were divided into three groups in a randomized experimental design. the first group was exposed to ticks infected with b. anserina, the second group was exposed to noninfected ticks, and the third group was not exposed to ticks. blood smears from each bird of ...	2009	19630219
t-cell epitope mapping of the borrelia garinii outer surface protein a in lyme neuroborreliosis.	we studied the t-cell reactivity to overlapping peptides of b. garinii ospa, in order to locate possible immunodominant t-cell epitopes in neuroborreliosis. cells from cerebrospinal fluid (csf) and blood from 39 patients with neuroborreliosis and 31 controls were stimulated with 31 overlapping peptides, and interferon-gamma secreting cells were detected by elispot. the peptides ospa(17-36), ospa(49-68), ospa(105-124), ospa(137-156), ospa(193-212) and ospa(233-252) showed the highest frequency of ...	2009	19630920
scleroderma linearis: hemiatrophia faciei progressiva (parry-romberg syndrom) without any changes in cns and linear scleroderma "en coup de sabre" with cns tumor.	hemifacial atrophy (parry-romberg syndrome) is a relatively rare disease. the etiology of the disease is not clear. some authors postulate its relation with limited scleroderma linearis. linear scleroderma "en coup de sabre" is characterized by clinical presence of most commonly one-sided linear syndrome. in a number of patients, neurological affection is the medium of the disease. the treatment of both scleroderma varieties is similar to the treatment of limited systemic sclerosis.	2009	19635150
prediction of lyme meningitis based on a logistic regression model using clinical and cerebrospinal fluid analysis: a european study.	a prediction model based on clinical and cerebrospinal fluid (csf) analysis has been proposed for the differentiation of lyme meningitis (lm) from non-lyme aseptic meningitis (nlam) in the united states. no similar model has ever been proposed for european patients. the objective of our study was to develop a prediction model to differentiate lm from nlam based on clinical and csf biologic data.	2009	19295463
infectious agents and lymphoma development: molecular and clinical aspects.	this review is focused on the role of infectious agents in the development of some lymphoma entities. associations involving bacterial infections mostly regard marginal zone b-cell lymphomas of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (malt)-type. some paradigmatic examples of these associations include the helicobacter pylori-related gastric malt lymphoma and the more recently reported links between chlamydophila psittaci and ocular adnexal malt lymphomas and borrelia burgdorferi and cutaneous malt ly ...	2009	19298458
the antibiotics doxycycline and minocycline inhibit the inflammatory responses to the lyme disease spirochete borrelia burgdorferi.	tetracyclines moderate inflammatory responses of various etiologies. we hypothesized that tetracyclines, in addition to their antimicrobial function, could exert control over the inflammation elicited by borrelia burgdorferi. to model systemic effects, we used the human monocytic cell line thp-1; to model effects in the central nervous system, we used rhesus monkey brain astrocytes and microglia. cells were stimulated with live or sonicated b. burgdorferi or with the lipoprotein outer surface pr ...	2009	19301981
species of borrelia burgdorferi complex that cause borrelial lymphocytoma in france.	only about 30 cases of borrelial lymphocytoma (bl) with identification of the causative species of borrelia have been published to date, mainly from eastern or central european countries.	2009	19302068
acylated cholesteryl galactosides are specific antigens of borrelia causing lyme disease and frequently induce antibodies in late stages of disease.	borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato is the causative agent of lyme disease (ld), an infectious disease occurring in north america, europe, and asia in different clinical stages. b. burgdorferi sensu lato encompasses at least 12 species, with b. burgdorferi sensu stricto, b. garinii, and b. afzelii being of highest clinical importance. immunologic testing for ld as well as recent vaccination strategies exclusively refer to proteinaceous antigens. however, b. burgdorferi sensu stricto exhibits glycoli ...	2009	19307181
borrelia recurrentis employs a novel multifunctional surface protein with anti-complement, anti-opsonic and invasive potential to escape innate immunity.	borrelia recurrentis, the etiologic agent of louse-borne relapsing fever in humans, has evolved strategies, including antigenic variation, to evade immune defence, thereby causing severe diseases with high mortality rates. here we identify for the first time a multifunctional surface lipoprotein of b. recurrentis, termed hcpa, and demonstrate that it binds human complement regulators, factor h, cfhr-1, and simultaneously, the host protease plasminogen. cell surface bound factor h was found to re ...	2009	19308255
a possible systemic rheumatic disorder in the nova scotia duck tolling retriever.	a disease complex with chronic musculoskeletal signs, including stiffness and joint pain, and to which there is a strong predisposition in the canine breed nova scotia duck tolling retriever (toller) has been recognized in sweden. the aim of this first clinical description of the disorder in tollers was to describe the clinical manifestations and laboratory findings, as well as to try to identify a possible immune-mediated background of the disease and to show the outcome of treatment in 33 toll ...	2009	19331658
correlation between tick density and pathogen endemicity, new hampshire.	to assess the endemicity of tick-borne pathogens in new hampshire, we surveyed adult tick vectors. pathogens were more prevalent in areas of high tick density, suggesting a correlation between tick establishment and pathogen endemicity. infection rates in ticks correlated with disease frequency in humans.	2009	19331738
inhibition of neutrophil function by two tick salivary proteins.	the saliva of hematophagous arthropods contains potent anti-inflammatory and antihemostatic activities that promote acquisition of the blood meal and enhance infection with pathogens. we have shown that polymorphonuclear leukocytes (pmn) treated with the saliva of the tick ixodes scapularis have reduced expression of beta(2) integrins, impaired pmn adherence, and reduced killing of borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of lyme disease. here we describe two ixodes proteins that are induced up ...	2009	19332533
hla type and immune response to borrelia burgdorferi outer surface protein a in people in whom arthritis developed after lyme disease vaccination.	to investigate whether persons with treatment-resistant lyme arthritis-associated hla alleles might develop arthritis as a result of an autoimmune reaction triggered by borrelia burgdorferi outer surface protein a (ospa), the lyme disease vaccine antigen.	2009	19333928
defensin is suppressed by tick salivary gland extract during the in vitro interaction of resident skin cells with borrelia burgdorferi.		2009	19340008
[isolation of tick-borne borreliosis agent from blood of patients].	during spring-autumn period of 2006 borrelia were isolated for the first time in russia from blood of 79 patients treated in perm city clinical hospital for infectious diseases no. 1 with diagnosis "tickborne borreliosis, manifestive form with migrating erythema, localized stage". ten primary isolates (12.7% of total seeded samples) were obtained by seeding plasma samples on the bsk medium. their subsequent identification by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragments length polymorphism rev ...	2009	19340967
strong igg antibody responses to borrelia burgdorferi glycolipids in patients with lyme arthritis, a late manifestation of the infection.	in this study, the membrane lipids of b. burgdorferi were separated into 16 fractions; the components in each fraction were identified, and the immunogenicity of each fraction was determined by elisa using sera from lyme disease patients. only the 2 glycolipids, acylated cholesteryl galactoside (acg, bbgl-i) and monogalactosyl diacylglycerol (mgald, bbgl-ii), were immunogenic. early in the infection, 24 of 84 patients (29%) who were convalescent from erythema migrans and 19 of the 35 patients (5 ...	2009	19342303
anaplasma phagocytophilum and borrelia burgdorferi in rabbits from southeastern china.	a total of 54 wild rabbits captured from southeastern china were examined for anaplasma phagocytophilum and borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato by polymerase chain reaction (pcr) assays. one and three samples were positive for a. phagocytophilum and b. burgdorferi, respectively. sequence analyses of pcr products identified a variant of a. phagocytophilum and a b. garinii genotype. this is the first detection of the two tick-borne agents in chinese rabbits, the role of which in the maintenance of the ...	2009	19345508
lyme neuroborreliosis: manifestations of a rapidly emerging zoonosis.	lyme disease has a worldwide distribution and is the most common vector-borne disease in the united states. incidence, clinical manifestations, and presentations vary by geography, season, and recreational habits. lyme neuroborreliosis (lnb) is neurologic involvement secondary to systemic infection by the spirochete borrelia burgdorferi in the united states and by borrelia garinii or borrelia afzelii species in europe. enhanced awareness of the clinical presentation of lyme disease allows inclus ...	2009	19346313
the expanding spectrum of cutaneous borreliosis.	the known spectrum of skin manifestations in cutaneous lyme disease is continuously expanding and can not be regarded as completed. besides the classical manifestations of cutaneous borreliosis like erythema (chronicum) migrans, borrelial lymphocytoma and acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans evidence is growing that at least in part also other skin manifestations, especially morphea, lichen sclerosus and cases of cutaneous b-cell lymphoma are causally related to infections with borrelia. also gra ...	2009	19357623
[lyme borreliosis--experience of the last 25 years in hungary].	we recognized the first hungarian lyme patients just 25 years ago, in 1984. it was exactly 20 years ago, when we opened the lyme disease outpatient service at the central (lászló) hospital for infectious diseases. 15 years ago we established the financially independent center for tick-borne diseases. the milestones of this work at the center for tick-borne diseases are the description of a new tick-borne rickettsial illness (tick-borne lymphadenopathy), development of a lyme immunoblot kit and a ...	2009	19362925
detection of the dna of borrelia afzelii, anaplasma phagocytophilum and babesia canis in blood samples from dogs in warsaw.	each month, from march 2003 to february 2004, 34 blood samples from dogs were randomly selected from the blood samples delivered to two veterinary laboratories in warsaw and tested for the dna of borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, anaplasma phagocytophilum, babesia canis and hepatozoon canis. borrelia dna was detected in seven of the 408 dogs, a phagocytophilum dna was found in two, and b canis dna was found in 48 (11.8 per cent). the dna of h canis was not found in any of the blood samples. seque ...	2009	19363228
matrix metalloproteinase 9 plays a key role in lyme arthritis but not in dissemination of borrelia burgdorferi.	borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of lyme arthritis, does not produce any exported proteases capable of degrading extracellular matrix despite the fact that it is able to disseminate from a skin insertion site to infect multiple organs. prior studies have shown that b. burgdorferi induces the host protease, matrix metalloproteinase 9 (mmp-9), and suggested that the induction of mmp-9 may allow the organism to disseminate and produce local tissue destruction. we examined the role of mmp-9 ...	2009	19364840
borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato diversity and its influence on pathogenicity in humans.	among the spirochaetes, the borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato complex is responsible for lyme borreliosis. this complex comprises more than 13 borrelia species. four of them are clearly pathogenic for humans: b. burgdorferi sensu stricto, b. afzelii, b. garinii and b. spielmanii. they can generate erythema migrans, an initial skin lesion, and can then spread deeply into the host to invade distant tissues, especially the nervous system, the joints or the skin. in humans, borrelia pathogenicityseems ...	2009	19367094
life cycle of borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato and transmission to humans.	lyme borreliosis is a zoonosis: its causative agent, borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, circulates between ixodes ricinus ticks and a large variety of vertebrates. i. ricinus has a wide geographical distribution throughout europe within the latitudes of 65 degrees and 39 degrees and from portugal into russia. enzootic cycles in europe involve at least 7 borrelia species. apparently, associations exist in nature between borrelia species and hosts. b. afzelii and b. burgdorferi sensu stricto are ass ...	2009	19367095
what should one do in case of a tick bite?	ixodes ricinus is the commonest tick species in europe, and transmits lyme borreliosis, tick-borne encephalitis, ehrlichiosis, tularemia, rickettsiosis, and babesiosis. the risk of borrelia burgdorferi infection increases with the time of tick engorgement, but not every infection necessarily causes erythema migrans or lyme borreliosis. therefore, the finding of b. burgdorferi dna in a tick does not prove that the patient will subsequently develop lyme borreliosis. ticks should be removed as earl ...	2009	19367100
is serological follow-up useful for patients with cutaneous lyme borreliosis?	serologic follow-up examinations are frequently performed in patients with erythema migrans, borrelial lymphocytoma, and acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans (the 3 dermatoborrelioses) to evaluate treatment efficacy. there is, however, substantial proof in the literature that antibody titer development after therapy is unpredictable and variable, and moreover it is largely uncorrelated with the clinical course and mode of antibiotic treatment. for example, persistent positive igg and/ or igm anti ...	2009	19367102
what are the indications for lumbar puncture in patients with lyme disease?	lyme neuroborreliosis (lnb) is a tick-borne disease of the nervous system, caused by the spirochete borrelia burgdorferi. having entered the host at the site of the tick bite, the spirochetes can initially cause a local inflammatory reaction, called erythema migrans. if left untreated, the borrelia can disseminate in the second stage of the disease and invade the central nervous system, causing lnb. the diagnosis of lnb is based on a compatible clinical picture (meningitis, cranial neuritis or r ...	2009	19367105
nervous system lyme disease: diagnosis and treatment.	lyme disease, the multisystem infectious disease caused by the tickborne spirochete borrelia burgdorferi, frequently affects the peripheral and central nervous systems. the earliest indication of lyme disease infection is usually erythema migrans. this large, typically macular erythema, often with a target-like pattern of concentric pale and red circles, gradually enlarges day by day, potentially reaching many centimeters in diameter. in a significant proportion of infected individuals, an acute ...	2009	19367218
reviewing molecular adaptations of lyme borreliosis spirochetes in the context of reproductive fitness in natural transmission cycles.	lyme borreliosis (lb) is caused by a group of pathogenic spirochetes - most often borrelia burgdorferi, b. afzelii, and b. garinii - that are vectored by hard ticks in the ixodes ricinus-persulcatus complex, which feed on a variety of mammals, birds, and lizards. although lb is one of the best-studied vector-borne zoonoses, the annual incidence in north america and europe leads other vector-borne diseases and continues to increase. what factors make the lb system so successful, and how can resea ...	2009	19368764
a yeast-endonuclease-generated dna break induces antigenic switching in trypanosoma brucei.	trypanosoma brucei is the causative agent of african sleeping sickness in humans and one of the causes of nagana in cattle. this protozoan parasite evades the host immune system by antigenic variation, a periodic switching of its variant surface glycoprotein (vsg) coat. vsg switching is spontaneous and occurs at a rate of about 10(-2)-10(-3) per population doubling in recent isolates from nature, but at a markedly reduced rate (10(-5)-10(-6)) in laboratory-adapted strains. vsg switching is thoug ...	2009	19369939
[familial predisposition and microbial etiology in dilated cardiomyopathy].	cardiomyopathies are an important and diverse group of heart muscle diseases in which the heart muscle itself is structurally or functionally abnormal and in which coronary artery disease, hypertension, valvular and congenital heart disease are absent or do not sufficiently explain the observed myocardial abnormality. this often results in severe heart failure accompanied by arrhythmias and/or sudden death. clinical and morphological diversity of cardiomyopathies can reflect the broad spectrum o ...	2009	19370326
the c6 lyme antibody test has low sensitivity for antibody detection in cerebrospinal fluid.	our aim was to evaluate the performance of the commercial immunetics c6 lyme elisa assay as a screening assay for anti-borrelia burgdorferi antibodies in cerebrospinal fluid (csf). sensitivity of c6 elisa was determined in 28 consecutive patients who were diagnosed with neuroborreliosis and had evidence for intrathecal antibody synthesis on immunoblot analysis. the presence of additional bands in csf or of bands with a stronger intensity in csf compared with serum was considered evidence of intr ...	2009	19376674
assessment of methylthioadenosine/s-adenosylhomocysteine nucleosidases of borrelia burgdorferi as targets for novel antimicrobials using a novel high-throughput method.	lyme disease is the most prevalent tick-borne disease in the usa with the highest number of cases (27 444 patients) reported by cdc in the year 2007, representing an unprecedented 37% increase from the previous year. the haematogenous spread of borrelia burgdorferi to various tissues results in multisystemic disease affecting the heart, joints, skin, musculoskeletal and nervous system of the patients.	2009	19376840
detailed analysis of sequence changes occurring during vlse antigenic variation in the mouse model of borrelia burgdorferi infection.	lyme disease borrelia can infect humans and animals for months to years, despite the presence of an active host immune response. the vls antigenic variation system, which expresses the surface-exposed lipoprotein vlse, plays a major role in b. burgdorferi immune evasion. gene conversion between vls silent cassettes and the vlse expression site occurs at high frequency during mammalian infection, resulting in sequence variation in the vlse product. in this study, we examined vlse sequence variati ...	2009	19214205
borrelia burgdorferi bba74 is expressed exclusively during tick feeding and is regulated by both arthropod- and mammalian host-specific signals.	although bba74 initially was described as a 28-kda virulence-associated outer-membrane-spanning protein with porin-like function, subsequent studies revealed that it is periplasmic and downregulated in mammalian host-adapted spirochetes. to further elucidate the role of this protein in the borrelia burgdorferi tick-mammal cycle, we conducted a thorough examination of its expression profile in comparison with the profiles of three well-characterized, differentially expressed borrelial genes (ospa ...	2009	19218390
a manganese transporter, bb0219 (bmta), is required for virulence by the lyme disease spirochete, borrelia burgdorferi.	borrelia burgdorferi (bb), the causative agent of lyme disease, is transmitted to mammalian hosts through an arthropod (tick) vector. to establish infection, bb must acquire essential nutrients, including transition metals, from its mammalian and tick hosts. thus far, no metal transporter has been identified in bb. here, we report the identification of the first metal transporter, bmta (bb0219), in bb. bmta-deficient mutants of virulent bb were readily generated, and the mutants grew slightly sl ...	2009	19218460
normal pressure hydrocephalus or neuroborreliosis?	an 80-year-old woman presented with progressive cognitive decline and with a 6-month history of gait ataxia. brain mri depicted enlarged ventricles and periventricular lesions. clinical improvement after csf spinal tap test suggested a normal pressure hydrocephalus syndrome. but csf pleocytosis with activated lymphocytes and plasma cells and intrathecal borrelia burgdorferi specific antibody production led to the diagnosis of active lyme neuroborreliosis. clinical symptoms of nph resolved after ...	2009	19225737
antimicrobial activity of three tick defensins and four mammalian cathelicidin-derived synthetic peptides against lyme disease spirochetes and bacteria isolated from the midgut.	in this study, chemically synthesized tick defensins and cathelicidin-derived mammalian peptides were used to investigate the activity spectrum against borrelia garinii and symbiotic stenotrophomonas maltophila. synthetic tick defensins showed antimicrobial activity against staphylococcus aureus but not b. garinii and s. maltophila. mammalian peptides which have cationic property similar to tick defensins, showed antimicrobial activity similar to tick defensins. the antimicrobial peptides in tic ...	2009	19229642
indices of urine n-acetyl-beta-d-glucosaminidase and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase activities in clinically normal adult dogs.	to establish reference ranges for indices of urine n-acetyl-b-d-glucosaminidase (nag) and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (ggt) activities in clinically normal adult dogs.	2009	19231965
[a curious case of livedo].		2009	19232258
[fibrous juxtaarticular nodules].		2009	19232260
[pediatric dermatology. new aspects of bacterial skin infections in children].	we review important aspects of bacterial skin diseases in children, most commonly caused by staphylococcus aureus, group a beta-hemolytic streptococci (streptococcus pyogenes) and borrelia burgdorferi. for early diagnosis of lyme borreliosis in children it is important to be familiar with the variable clinical presentation of erythema migrans and early hematogenic dissemination with multiple erythemata migrantia. treatment of impetigo in children requires consideration of concomitant diseases, t ...	2009	19238341
detection and quantification of lyme spirochetes using sensitive and specific molecular beacon probes.	lyme disease, caused by borrelia burgdorferi, affects a large number of people in both the usa and europe. the mouse is a natural host for this spirochete and is widely used as a model system to study lyme pathogenesis mechanisms. since disease manifestations often depend upon the spirochete burden in a particular tissue, it is critical to accurately measure the bacterial number in infected tissues. the current methods either lack sensitivity and specificity (sybr green), or require independent ...	2009	19239692
[acute encephalitis. neuropsychiatric manifestations as expression of influenza virus infection].	the aim is to review the encephalitis in infants and adolescents as well as its etiology, clinical manifestation, epidemiology, physiopathology, diagnostic methods and treatment, and the neuropsyquiatric signs appearing an influenza epidemy. encephalitis is an inflammation of the central nervous system (cns) which involves the brain. the clinical manifestations usually are: headache, fever and confusional stage. it could also be manifested as seizures, personality changes, or psiqyiatric symptom ...	2009	19240010
local borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto and borrelia afzelii strains in a single mixed antigen improves western blot sensitivity.	this study evaluates the use of local borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto and borrelia afzelii strains in a single mixed antigen for in-house igg western blots in the routine diagnostic setting by comparing it with the current in-house protocol.	2009	19240047
the borrelia burgdorferi outer-surface protein erpx binds mammalian laminin.	the lyme disease spirochaete, borrelia burgdorferi, can invade and persistently infect its hosts' connective tissues. we now demonstrate that b. burgdorferi adheres to the extracellular matrix component laminin. the surface-exposed outer-membrane protein erpx was identified as having affinity for laminin, and is the first laminin-binding protein to be identified in a lyme disease spirochaete. the adhesive domain of erpx was shown to be contained within a small, unstructured hydrophilic segment a ...	2009	19246757
climate and tick seasonality are predictors of borrelia burgdorferi genotype distribution.	the blacklegged tick, ixodes scapularis, is of significant public health importance as a vector of borrelia burgdorferi, the agent of lyme borreliosis. the timing of seasonal activity of each immature i. scapularis life stage relative to the next is critical for the maintenance of b. burgdorferi because larvae must feed after an infected nymph to efficiently acquire the infection from reservoir hosts. recent studies have shown that some strains of b. burgdorferi do not persist in the primary res ...	2009	19251900