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Reproduced from BayAreaLyme.org with the kind permission of Bay Area Lyme Foundation. To read the original article, click here.
A peer-reviewed journal, Frontiers in Immunology, publishes an important new research by a team led by First winner of Emerging Leader Award from Bay Area Lyme Foundation
PORTOLA VALLEY, CA, Aug. 2018 – The Bay Area Lyme Foundation, one of the leading non-profit funders of innovative research on Lyme disease in the United States, today announced the publication new data that provides valuable information on the role of the immune system in the fight against acute Lyme disease. .
The data demonstrate a correlation between the initial activation of specific components of the immune response and the patient's ability to recover after 21 days of doxycycline. Posted in Frontiers in immunologyThe research, funded primarily by the Bay Area Lyme Foundation, was led by Lisa K. Blum, Ph.D., a former postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University School of Medicine. Blum was one of the first recipients of the Emerging Leader Award from the Bay Area Lyme Foundation, a grant to support the research of promising scientists on Lyme disease and the bacteria that causes it. B. burgdorferi.
"This research addresses one of the mysteries of Lyme disease, providing important evidence to understand why some people get better after a doxycycline course for 21 days and some remain ill," said Wendy Adams, Director of Grants. at the Bay Area Lyme Foundation. . "The findings of this study not only show that a competent immune response AND antibiotics are needed to rid the infection, but also point us to avenues of research that may lead to new therapies."
The data show that patients who did not demonstrate a strong immune response to B cells were more likely to have post-treatment symptoms. The researchers found that study participants who had fully recovered their state of health after 21 days of doxycycline treatment had, before treatment, significantly higher rates of one type of blood B-cell. , called plasmablasts, as patients with persistent symptoms and meeting diagnostic criteria. Post-treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome (PTLDS) for at least 6 months after treatment. It is important to note that the study also showed that plasmablast levels may be useful in predicting which patients have a higher risk of treatment failure after a short period of antibiotic therapy. These data confirm the earlier results of some animal models showing a demonstrable suppression of the immune system after infection and a large variability of the immune response in different animals after infection.
In addition to an badociation between plasmablasts and the resolution of the disease, the researchers also found that patients with persistent symptoms had a lower antibody response; more specifically, these patients had reduced clonal expansion of B cells.
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Patients included in the study included 32 first-time Lyme patients with acute early symptoms, including a rash-shaped rash, and 18 healthy participants who served as controls. Patients received oral treatment with doxycycline for 21 days, according to the treatment guidelines of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA). Blood tests, administered to patients with Lyme disease at the pretreatment stage, 1 month after treatment and 6 months after treatment, were badyzed using flow cytometry and sequencing of the antibody repertoire. . Samples of healthy controls were collected at an initial visit, at 6 months and at 1 year. The definition of Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome (PTLDS) for the study is based on the case definition proposed by IDSA.
Members of the Bay Area Lyme Foundation Scientific Advisory Board who contributed to the research included lead author William H. Robinson, MD, PhD, Stanford University School of Medicine; Monica Embers, Ph.D., Tulane University; and John Aucott, MD, Johns Hopkins University.
Lisa Blum, PhD, received the Emerging Leader Award from the Bay Area Lyme Foundation in 2014. Other winners of the Emerging Leader Award include Brandeis University, Harvard University, the Mbadachusetts Institute of Technology, Louisiana State University, North Carolina State University and the University of California at San Francisco. The most recent Emerging Leader Award recipients are: George Church, Ph.D., and Ting Wu, Ph.D., each of whom received a $ 250,000 grant to launch the Research Initiative project on Genomic Lyme at Harvard Medical School; and Michal Caspi Tal, Ph.D. and Steven E. Phillips, MD, who each received $ 100,000 for therapeutic research.
The Emerging Leader Awards of the Bay Area Lyme Foundation, based on a grant from the LaureL Foundation, are currently possible every year thanks to a generous donation from the Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation. This year, an additional donation from Emily and Malcolm Fairbairn allowed the award of a fourth prize, totaling $ 700,000 in grants. These awards are given annually and are designed to be awarded to promising scientists who have defined a definite approach to improving the diagnosis or treatment of Lyme disease. Researchers wishing to apply for the 2019 Emerging Leader Award or to become familiar with other grants offered by the Bay Area Lyme Foundation throughout the year should contact [email protected].
About Lyme Disease
Lyme disease, one of the fastest growing infectious diseases in the country, is a potentially disabling infection caused by a bacterium transmitted by the bite of an infected tick to people and pets. There are approximately 329,000 new cases of Lyme disease each year, according to statistics released in 2015 by the CDC. Because of the difficulty in diagnosing and treating Lyme disease, no less than one million Americans could suffer from the impact of its long-term debilitating symptoms and complications, according to estimates of the Bay Area Lyme Foundation.
About Bay Area Lyme Foundation
The Bay Area Lyme Foundation, a national organization dedicated to facilitating the diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease, is the leading public sponsor of foundations for innovative research on Lyme disease in the United States. A 501c3 non-profit organization based in Silicon Valley, the Bay Area Lyme Foundation collaborates with world-renowned scientists and institutions to accelerate medical breakthroughs in the field of Lyme disease. It is also dedicated to providing reliable and factual information so that prevention and the importance of early treatment are well known. An essential donation from the LaureL STEM fund covers all overhead costs and allows 100% of all donor contributions to the Bay Area Lyme Foundation to go directly to research and prevention programs. For more information on Lyme Disease or to get involved, visit www.bayarealyme.org or call us at 650-530-2439
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