Excerpt:

Results-Sensitivity and specificity of the in-clinic ELISA for detection of
heartworm antigen (99.2% and 100%, respectively), antibodies against B
burgdorferi (98.8% and 100%, respectively), and antibodies against E canis
(96.2% and 100%, respectively) were similar to results for a similar
commercial ELISA. In samples obtained from dogs in the northeast and upper
Midwest of the United States, sensitivity and specificity of the in-clinic
ELISA for antibodies against Anaplasma spp were 99.1% and 100%,
respectively, compared with results for an immunofluorescence assay. Samples
from 2 dogs experimentally infected with the NY18 strain of A
phagocytophilum were tested by use of the in-clinic ELISA, and antibodies
against A phagocytophilum were detected by 8 days after inoculation.
Antibodies against Anaplasma platys in experimentally infected dogs
cross-reacted with the A phagocytophilum analyte. Coinfections were
identified in several of the canine serum samples. 
Conclusions and Clinical Relevance-
The commercially available in-clinic ELISA could be used by veterinarians to
screen dogs for heartworm infection and for exposure to tick-borne
pathogens.

RESULTS: Antibodies were detected in all evaluated groups. In
group of neuroborreliosis (lymphocytic meningitis with cranial
nerve invoIvement) there was no essential difference with control
group.
It was stated in group of forestry workers with serological
features of infection B. burgdorferi lasting for years.
CONCLUSIONS: Results of the study do
not support the thesis of participation of IgG autoantibodies
against gangliosides in pathogenesis early disseminated Lyme
borreliosis in form of lymphocytic meningitis with cranial nerves
paresis. Antibodies against endogenous glicosfingolipides in Lyme
borreliosis probably can lead to affecting nervous system
(demielinisation and polineuropathy) but probably require
long-term immunization, what is suggested by results of examined
group of patients with the multi-annual serological features of
infection.

Vitamin B12 deficiency is EPIDEMIC and we suffer from this lack of B12 with many health problems including fatigue and early memory loss. This report found that 50% of TYPE 2 Diabetics have B-12 deficiency, which contributes to the more rapid development of diabetic complications including dementia and neuropathy.

It is so easy to correct this condition using Longevity Plus’s sublingual Beyond B12, which includes the ideal form of B12 Methylcobalamin to support methylation, as well as ACTIVE forms of Folic Acid. Folic acid is also so vital for health and again when properly tested, 5’MTHF is almost routinely deficient in our aging population.

Excerpt: http://www.liai.org/

Finding has major implications for efforts to develop a first-ever vaccine against the dangerous infectious disorder

SAN DIEGO – (February 11, 2010) A leading immunology research institute has validated the long-held and controversial hypothesis that antibodies – usually the “good guys” in the body’s fight against viruses – instead contribute to severe dengue virus-induced disease, the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology announced today. The finding has major implications for the development of a first-ever vaccine against dengue virus, a growing public health threat which annually infects 50 to 100 million people worldwide, causing a half million cases of the severest form.

“Our lab has proven the decades old hypothesis that subneutralizing levels of dengue virus antibodies exacerbate the disease,” said La Jolla Institute scientist Sujan Shresta, Ph.D, noting this occurs in people with secondary dengue virus infections who have antibodies to the virus due to a previous infection. “This is a situation where antibodies can be bad for you, which is counter to everything we know about the normal function of antibodies. It also presents a special challenge for researchers working to develop a dengue virus vaccine, since most vaccines work by prompting the body to produce antibodies.”

METHODS: CXCL13 was measured in
cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum of patients with NB (NB, n= 28), systemic
borreliosis (SB, n=9), Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS, n=11), Bell’s palsy (BP,
n=19), other cranial nerve palsies (CNP, n=5), cephalgia (C, n=20),
bacterial-CNS-infections (B-CNS-I, n=16) and from patients with
viral-CNS-infections (V-CNS-I, n=18). For follow-up studies serial sample pairs
were evaluated from 25 patients with NB (n=56), 11 with B-CNS-I (n=25) and 14
with V-CNS-I (n=36).

RESULTS: CSF-CXCL13 was significantly elevated in NB
compared to other neurological diseases (p<0.001). Using ROC analysis, 337 ng/g
was determined as cut-off with a sensitivity of 96.4 % and a specificity of 96.9
%. Of all the parameters investigated, CSF CXCL13 showed the fastest response to
antibiotic therapy, decreasing significantly (p=0.008) within one week. In
untreated patients, CSF CXCL13 was elevated in patients with a short duration of
disease. Borrelia burgdorferi antibody index (BB-AI) showed no significant
(p=0.356) change over follow-up.

CONCLUSIONS: Our study confirms the relevance
of CXCL13 as a diagnostic biomarker of NB. It suggests that CSF CXCL13 in NB is
linked to duration of disease and could be a marker of disease activity and
response to antibiotic therapy.

http://eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/eutils/elink.fcgi?dbfrom=pubmed&id=19965843&retmode=ref&cmd=prlinks
PMID: 19965843  [PubMed – as supplied by publisher]

J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2009 Dec 3; [Epub ahead of print]

The chemokine CXCL13 in acute neuroborreliosis.

Senel M, Rupprecht TA, Tumani H, Pfister HW, Ludolph AC, Brettschneider J.

University of Ulm, Department of Neurology, Germany;