Variable manifestations, diverse seroreactivity and post-treatment persistence in non-human primates exposed to Borrelia

[Psilociraptor]

M. Embers 2017

Abstract
The efficacy and accepted regimen of antibiotic treatment for Lyme disease has been a point of significant contention among physicians and patients. While experimental studies in animals have offered evidence of post-treatment persistence of Borrelia burgdorferi, variations in methodology, detection methods and limitations of the models have led to some uncertainty with respect to translation of these results to human infection. With all stages of clinical Lyme disease having previously been described in nonhuman primates, this animal model was selected in order to most closely mimic human infection and response to treatment. Rhesus macaques were inoculated with B. burgdorferi by tick bite and a portion were treated with recommended doses of doxycycline for 28 days at four months post-inoculation. Signs of infection, clinical pathology, and antibody responses to a set of five antigens were monitored throughout the ~1.2 year study. Persistence of B. burgdorferi was evaluated using xenodiagnosis, bioassays in mice, multiple methods of molecular detection, immunostaining with polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies and an in vivo culture system. Our results demonstrate host-dependent signs of infection and variation in antibody responses. In addition, we observed evidence of persistent, intact, metabolically-active B. burgdorferi after antibiotic treatment of disseminated infection and showed that persistence may not be reflected by maintenance of specific antibody production by the host.

http://journals.plos.org/plosone/articl ... 071#sec023

[migs]

Yes I am a bit late but really great work by Embers and others. The dam is really getting large cracks now.

[Martian]

Please provide all the basis data about a study (journal, date, full title, authors, etc.), so one gets to know all those details right-away and it becomes better searchable.

PubMed Abstract:

PLoS One. 2017 Dec 13;12(12):e0189071. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0189071. eCollection 2017.

Variable manifestations, diverse seroreactivity and post-treatment persistence in non-human primates exposed to Borrelia burgdorferi by tick feeding.

Embers ME, Hasenkampf NR, Jacobs MB, Tardo AC, Doyle-Meyers LA, Philipp MT, Hodzic E.

Abstract

The efficacy and accepted regimen of antibiotic treatment for Lyme disease has been a point of significant contention among physicians and patients.

While experimental studies in animals have offered evidence of post-treatment persistence of Borrelia burgdorferi, variations in methodology, detection methods and limitations of the models have led to some uncertainty with respect to translation of these results to human infection.

With all stages of clinical Lyme disease having previously been described in nonhuman primates, this animal model was selected in order to most closely mimic human infection and response to treatment.

Rhesus macaques were inoculated with B. burgdorferi by tick bite and a portion were treated with recommended doses of doxycycline for 28 days at four months post-inoculation.

Signs of infection, clinical pathology, and antibody responses to a set of five antigens were monitored throughout the ~1.2 year study.

Persistence of B. burgdorferi was evaluated using xenodiagnosis, bioassays in mice, multiple methods of molecular detection, immunostaining with polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies and an in vivo culture system.

Our results demonstrate host-dependent signs of infection and variation in antibody responses. In addition, we observed evidence of persistent, intact, metabolically-active B. burgdorferi after antibiotic treatment of disseminated infection and showed that persistence may not be reflected by maintenance of specific antibody production by the host.

PMID: 29236732
PMCID: PMC5728523
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0189071

Free Full-text article is available at the following sources:

http://journals.plos.org/plosone/articl ... ne.0189071
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5728523/