All Posts Tagged With: "borrelia afzelii"

Linda comment:  To investigate whether Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.) infection is associated with mortality in mountain hares, tissues and ticks collected from hares were investigated for infection with the spirochete. mountain  hare to some degree functions as a transmission host for B. burgdorferi s.s. and Borrelia sp. SV1.

Excerpt:

Our results indicate that disseminated Borrelia infection in 
hares rarely occurs and, presumably, does not play a central role in the 
suspected population decline. The results also suggest that the mountain 
hare to some degree functions as a transmission host for B. burgdorferi 
s.s. and Borrelia sp. SV1.

Link: http://eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/eutils/elink.fcgi?dbfrom=pubmed&id=21142958&retmode=ref&cmd=prlinks

Excerpt:

Abstract Thirty-two strains of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato were isolated
from Borrelia burgdorferi Sensu Lato collected from northeastern China from May to
June in 2004 and 2005. Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP)
analysis and sequence analysis of 5S-23S rRNA intergenic spacer revealed
that 29 (90.6%) belonged to Borrelia garinii, demonstrating B, C, and a
unique pattern. The remaining three isolates (9.4%) were Borrelia afzelii
with pattern D. The phylogenetic analysis based on 5S-23S rRNA intergenic
spacer showed that B.
garinii and B. afzelii genospecies clustered into two separate lineages. B.
garinii strains were classified into three different branches: All the
strains with RFLP pattern C were in the same branch, strain VH10 with a
unique RFLP pattern clustered with strains VH9 and MDH2 with pattern B, and
the rest of the strains with pattern B constitute another branch. These
findings demonstrate the genetic diversity of B. burgdorferi sensu lato
isolates from northeastern China.

Full article: http://eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/eutils/elink.fcgi?dbfrom=pubmed&id=20844223&retmode=ref&cmd=prlinks

Excerpt:

Members of the genus Borrelia are among the most common
infectious agents causing tick-borne disease in humans worldwide.
Here, we developed a Light Upon
eXtension(TM) (LUX) real-time PCR assay that can detect and
quantify Borrelia species in ticks that have fed on humans, and
we applied the assay to 399 such ticks. Borrelia PCR-positive
ticks were identified to species by sequencing the products of
conventional PCR performed using Borrelia group-specific primers.
There was a 19% prevalence of Borrelia spp. in the detached
ticks, and the number of spirochetes per Borrelia PCR-positive
tick ranged from 2.0 x 10(2) to
4.9 x 10(5) with a median of 7.8 x 10(3) spirochetes. Adult ticks
had a significantly larger number of spirochetes with a median of
8.4 x 10(4) compared to the median of nymphs 4.4 x 10(4). Adult
ticks also exhibited higher prevalence of Borrelia (33%) compared
to nymphs (14%). Among the identified species, Borrelia afzelii
was found to predominate (61%), followed by B. garinii (23%), B.
valaisiana (13%), B. burgdorferi sensu stricto (1%), B.
lusitaniae (1%), and B. miyamotoi-like (1%). Also, 3% of the
ticks were co-infected with multiple strains of B. afzelii.
Notably, this is the first report of B.
lusitaniae being detected in ticks in Sweden. 

Full article: http://www.emedicine.com/derm/topic4.htm

Excerpt:

Acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans (ACA) is the third or late stage of European Lyme borreliosis (LB). This unusual, progressive, fibrosing skin process is due to the effect of continuing active infection with Borrelia afzelii. Buchwald first delineated it in 1883; Herxheimer and Hartmann described it in 1902 as a tissue paper–like cutaneous atrophy. It is evident on the extremities, particularly on the extensor surfaces, beginning with an inflammatory stage with bluish red discoloration and cutaneous swelling and concluding several months or years later with an atrophic phase. Sclerotic skin plaques may also develop. Physicians should use serologic and histologic examination to confirm this diagnosis.

Pathophysiology: B afzelii is the predominant, but may not be the exclusive, etiologic agent of ACA. Another genospecies of the Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato complex, Borrelia garinii, has also been detected.

ACA is the only form of LB in which no spontaneous remission occurs. Its pathophysiology is not yet fully understood. ACA appears to be associated with long-term persistence of Borrelia organisms in the skin; several nonspecific reactions together with a specific immune response may contribute to its manifestations.

The persistence of the spirochetes despite a marked cutaneous T-cell infiltration and high serum antibody titers may be connected with resistance of the pathogen to the complement system; the ability to escape to immunologically protected sites (eg, endothelial cells, fibroblasts); and the ability to change antigens, which may lead to an inappropriate immune response. Lack of protective antibodies, with a narrow antibody spectrum and a weak cellular response with down-regulation of major histocompatibility system class II molecules on Langerhans cells, has been observed in patients with LB.

Excerpt:

Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, carried by Ixodes ticks, is one of the most significant human pathogens, causing Lyme disease. As there is no standardized PCR method for detection and identification of spirochaete DNA, we carried out a comparative analysis using a set of complementary primers for three regions in the genomic DNA of these bacteria (genes fla and rrs and the non-coding rrs–rrlA region). DNA extracted from 579 Ixodes ricinus ticks was subjected to nested PCR. DNA of the examined spirochaetes was detected in 43 (7.4 %) lysates when the fla gene was used as a molecular marker, in 7 (1.2 %) lysates when using primers complementary to the rrs gene, and in 12 (2.1 %) lysates using primers complementary to the non-coding rrs–rrlA sequence. RFLP analysis based on the fla gene helped identify species from the B. burgdorferi sensu lato complex (B. burgdorferi sensu stricto, Borrelia afzelii, Borrelia garinii, Borrelia valaisiana), detect co-infections, and also identify Borrelia miyamotoi. Therefore, the fla gene is the most sensitive and specific molecular marker for the detection and identification of Borrelia spirochaetes in I. ricinus.

To delineate the inflammatory potential of the 3 pathogenic species of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, we stimulated monocyte-derived macrophages from healthy human donors with 10 isolates each of B. burgdorferi, Borrelia afzelii, or Borrelia garinii recovered from erythema migrans skin lesions of patients with Lyme borreliosis from the United States or Slovenia. B. burgdorferi isolates from the United States induced macrophages to secrete significantly higher levels of interleukin (IL)-8, CCL3, CCL4, IL-6, IL-10, and tumor necrosis factor than B. garinii or B. afzelii isolates. Consistent with this response in cultured macrophages, chemokine and cytokine levels in serum samples of patients from whom the isolates were obtained were significantly greater in B. burgdorferi-infected patients than in B. afzelii- or B. garinii-infected patients. These results demonstrate in vitro and in vivo that B. burgdorferi has greater inflammatory potential than B. afzelii and B. garinii, which may account in part for variations in the clinical manifestations of Lyme borreliosis. Continued

Klemen Strle,1
Elise E. Drouin,1
Shiqian Shen,1
Joseph El Khoury,1,2
Gail McHugh,1
Eva Ruzic‐Sabljic,3
Franc Strle,4 and
Allen C. Steere1

Center for Immunology and Inflammatory Diseases, Division of Rheumatology, Allergy and Immunology, 2Infectious Diseases Division, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; and 3Institute of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Ljubljana, 4Department of Infectious Diseases, University Medical Center Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia Continued