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questing ticks in suburban forest are infected by at least six tick-borne pathogens.abstract the role of ixodes ricinus ticks in the transmission of pathogens of public health importance such as borrelia burgdorferi s.l. is widely recognized and is suspected in several emerging vector-borne pathogens in europe. here, we assess prevalence rates of several endemic and emerging zoonotic pathogens in tick populations in an area of high human population density in france, to contribute to a risk assessment for potential transmission to humans. pathogen prevalence rates were evaluate ...201021158500
genetic diversity of borrelia burgdorferi and detection of b. bissettii-like dna in serum of north-coastal california residents.in north america, lyme borreliosis (lb) is a tick-borne disease caused by infection with the spirochete borrelia burgdorferi. we studied the genetic diversity of lb spirochetes in north-coastal california residents. spirochete dna was detected in 23.7% (27/114) of the study subjects using a pcr protocol optimized for increased sensitivity in human sera. californians were most commonly infected with b. burgdorferi ospc genotype a, a globally widespread spirochete associated with high virulence in ...201021177909
lyme disease diagnosis and treatment: lessons from the aids epidemic.lyme disease is a controversial tick-borne illness that is estimated to be four times more common than aids in the united states. this paper outlines the challenges overcome in the healthcare response to human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) infection, the development of sensitive laboratory tests for the aids virus, and the promotion of long-term combination antimicrobial regimens to effectively treat hiv disease. we suggest that similar challenges need to be overcome before the chronic form of ly ...201021196901
inflammation and central nervous system lyme disease.lyme disease, caused by the bacterium borrelia burgdorferi, can cause multi-systemic signs and symptoms, including peripheral and central nervous system disease. this review examines the evidence for and mechanisms of inflammation in neurologic lyme disease, with a specific focus on the central nervous system, drawing upon human studies and controlled research with experimentally infected rhesus monkeys. directions for future human research are suggested that may help to clarify the role of infl ...201019944760
structure and immunomodulatory property relationship in napa of borrelia burgdorferi.napa from borrelia burgdorferi is a member of the dps-like protein family with specific immunomodulatory properties; in particular, napa is able to induce the expression of il-23 in neutrophils and monocytes, as well as the expression of il-6, il-1β, and transforming growth factor beta (tgf-β) in monocytes, via toll-like receptor (tlr) 2. such an activity on innate immune cells triggers a synovial fluid th17 response. here we report the crystal structure of napa, determined at 2.6å resolution, w ...201020851780
expression and sequence diversity of the complement regulating outer surface protein e in borrelia afzelii vs. borrelia garinii in patients with erythema migrans or neuroborreliosis.outer surface protein e (ospe) is a complement factor h-binding virulence factor of borrelial subspecies. it is usually absent from in vitro grown borrelia garinii, although in vivo b. garinii causes neuroborreliosis (nb). we analyzed the presence and sequence spectrum of the ospe genes in vivo in borrelia spirochetes. dna samples from the skin, serum and cerebrospinal fluid (csf) of patients with infections caused by borrelia afzelii or b. garinii were studied, and anti-ospe antibodies in the c ...201020603210
31-year-old man with fever, palpitations, and generalized rash. 201020360288
evaluation of real-time pcr targeting hbb gene for borrelia species identification.several molecular methods have been employed for borrelia species identification. newly developed technology, real-time polymerase chain reaction (rt-pcr), combines simultaneous amplification, detection and differentiation of strains in one pcr run. the aim of the study was to perform and evaluate rt-pcr for borreliaburgdorferi sensu lato species identification. borrelia species identification was accomplished on 374 borrelia strains using two approaches: 1.) mlui restriction of entire borrelial ...201020451566
evidence of multiple infectious agents in mycosis fungoides lesions.the etiology of mycosis fungoides (mf) remains to be determined. several studies have proposed a viral etiology with controversial results. in this case-control study we investigated the presence of epstein-barr virus (ebv) and the debated presence of human t-cell lymphotrophic virus i (htlv-i) sequences, by polymerase chain reaction on nucleic acid extracts from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded skin biopsies. moreover, by a multivariate approach we analyzed in the same case-control study also t ...201020470773
evolution of northeastern and midwestern borrelia burgdorferi, united states.the per capita incidence of human lyme disease in the northeastern united states is more than twice that in the midwest. however, the prevalence of borrelia burgdorferi, the bacterium that causes lyme disease, in the tick vector is nearly identical in the 2 regions. the disparity in human lyme disease incidence may result from a disparity in the human invasiveness of the bacteria in the northeast and midwest caused by fundamentally different evolutionary histories. b. burgdorferi populations in ...201020507740
multilocus sequence typing implicates rodents as the main reservoir host of human-pathogenic borrelia garinii in japan.multilocus sequence typing of borrelia garinii isolates from humans and comparison with rodent and tick isolates were performed. fifty-nine isolates were divided into two phylogenetic groups, and an association was detected between clinical and rodent isolates, suggesting that, in japan, human-pathogenic b. garinii comes from rodents via ticks.201121411595
severe orthostatic hypotension in a diabetic patient may not be due to diabetic autonomic neuropathy.this lesson describes an unusual case of a man who was recently diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and who presented with severe orthostatic hypotension. as his diabetes was recent in onset, well controlled, and he had no other signs of microvascular disease, other causes of orthostatic hypotension were sought. his serum and cerebrospinal fluid were strongly positive for borrelia burgdorferi igg, suggesting a diagnosis of lyme neuroborreliosis. autonomic instability in lyme, while rare, has been pre ...201121902089
canine serology as adjunct to human lyme disease surveillance.to better define areas of human lyme disease risk, we compared us surveillance data with published data on the seroprevalence of borrelia burgdorferi antibodies among domestic dogs. canine seroprevalence >5% was a sensitive but nonspecific marker of human risk, whereas seroprevalence <1% was associated with minimal risk for human infection.201121888800
analysis of borrelia burgdorferi surface proteins as determinants in establishing host cell interactions.borrelia burgdorferi infection causes lyme borreliosis in humans, a condition which can involve a systemic spread of the organism to colonize various tissues and organs. if the infection is left untreated by antimicrobials, it can lead to manifestations including, arthritis, carditis, and/or neurological problems. identification and characterization of b. burgdorferi outer membrane proteins that facilitate cellular attachment and invasion to establish infection continue to be investigated. in th ...201121747816
the expanding lyme borrelia complex--clinical significance of genomic species?ten years after the discovery of spirochaetes as agents of lyme disease in 1982 in the usa, three genomic species had diverged from the phenotypically heterogeneous strains of borrelia burgdorferi isolated in north america and europe: borrelia afzelii, b. burgdorferi sensu stricto (further b. burgdorferi), and borrelia garinii. whereas b. burgdorferi remained the only human pathogen in north america, all three species are aetiological agents of lyme borreliosis in europe. another seven genospeci ...201121414082
a prospective study on the role of cxcl13 in lyme neuroborreliosis.the definite diagnosis of acute lyme neuroborreliosis (lnb) requires detection of an increased borrelia burgdorferi-specific antibody index (ai). the b burgdorferi ai, however, is negative in up to 20% of patients with early lnb and can remain elevated for years after adequate therapy; both of these factors can make the diagnosis difficult. recent retrospective studies suggested the chemokine cxcl13 as a potential biomarker for lnb. to evaluate its diagnostic value, we conducted a prospective st ...201121422457
ixodes ricinus ticks (acari: ixodidae): vectors for lyme disease spirochetes in romania.in this study 1,868 questing ixodes ricinus ticks (nymphs and adults), collected in six sites from three counties--giurgiu, sibiu, and tulcea--in romania, were examined by polymerase chain reaction (pcr) followed by reverse line blot (rlb) for detection of borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato presence. the bacteria were found in 18% of the investigated ticks. the prevalence of infection did not differ significantly between nymphs (19.1%) and adults (15.4%). three b. burgdorferi s.l. genospecies were ...201121431930
infectivity of borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato is unaltered in c3-deficient mice.b. burgdorferi, b. afzelii, and b. bavariensis show resistance to mouse and human complement. b. garinii and b. valaisiana are sensitive to mouse and human complement. we evaluated whether the absence of c3 in mice influenced infectivity and pathogenicity of different borrelia species. c3 knockout mice (c3-/-) and syngeneic c57bl/6 wild-type (wt) mice were challenged with 5 different borrelia species. after 2 weeks, quantitative pcr (qpcr), culture, histopathology, and immunofluorescence were pe ...201121771533
development of a baited oral vaccine for use in reservoir-targeted strategies against lyme disease.lyme disease is a major human health problem which continues to increase in incidence and geographic distribution. as a vector-borne zoonotic disease, lyme disease may be amenable to reservoir targeted strategies for control. we have previously reported that a vaccinia virus (vv) based vaccine expressing outer surface protein a (ospa) of borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of lyme disease, protects inbred strains of laboratory mice against infection by feeding ticks and clears the ticks of ...201121816190
Molting success of Ixodes scapularis varies among individual blood meal hosts and species.The blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis) is an important vector of emerging human pathogens. It has three blood-feeding stages, as follows: larva, nymph, and adult. Owing to inefficient transovarial transmission, at least for the Lyme disease agent (Borrelia burgdorferi), larval ticks rarely hatch infected, but they can acquire infection during their larval blood meal. Nymphal ticks are primarily responsible for transmitting pathogens to hosts, including humans. The transition from uninfected ho ...201121845946
whole-genome sequences of borrelia bissettii, borrelia valaisiana, and borrelia spielmanii.it has been known for decades that human lyme disease is caused by the three spirochete species borrelia burgdorferi, borrelia afzelii, and borrelia garinii. recently, borrelia valaisiana, borrelia spielmanii, and borrelia bissettii have been associated with lyme disease. we report the complete genome sequences of b. valaisiana vs116, b. spielmanii a14s, and b. bissettii dn127.201222207749
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