All Posts Tagged With: "Western blot"

Full article: http://jnnp.bmj.com/content/78/12/1409.extract

Excerpt:

Retrobulbar optic neuritis (RON) is an unusual complication of Lyme disease. The diagnosis of early Lyme disease is difficult, and the relationship between RON and Lyme disease remains controversial. None of the 14 cases of optic neuritis described in the literature in association with Lyme disease fulfilled the Halperin and Sibony criteria for active Lyme disease. We report the first case of acute Lyme disease complicated by RON established using the Halperin and Sibony criteria.

Lyme disease is a multisystem infectious disease caused by tick borne spirochetes of the Borrelia burgdorferi group. Diagnosis of this infection can be difficult and serological testing such as western blot can be useful. Cranial neuropathies are common but RON has been reported in a few isolated cases.1 A causal link between optic neuritis and Lyme disease has not been established and remains controversial. We report a case of active neuro-Lyme disease complicated by RON

Excerpt:

Lyme arthritis in dogs can be induced under experimental and
natural conditions.
However, the veterinary relevance of canine borreliosis is still
under extensive investigation. The prevalence of symptoms is
clearly low although the risk of tick exposure is high. Current
research focuses on case definitions, methods for diagnosing
clinical disease in dogs, and discrimination between an immune
response to a natural infection versus vaccination.
In this experimental study,
23 dogs raised under tick-free conditions were allocated to two
groups: 11 dogs were vaccinated with a commercial borrelia
vaccine and subsequently developed detectable antibody titers; 12
were walked in a tick-endemic area on two consecutive days. On
day five after exposure engorged ticks were removed from the 12
dogs and analyzed for Borrelia DNA in real-time PCR assay. Blood
samples were taken before exposure/vaccination and at defined
time points thereafter.

Full article: http://eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/eutils/elink.fcgi?dbfrom=pubmed&id=20534091&retmode=ref&cmd=prlinks

Excerpt:

In the present study, we report the occurrence of borreliosis in
patients from the Brazilian Amazonic region. Nineteen (7.2%) out
of 270 dermatological patients with different skin diseases (no
one with clinical Lyme disease), tested positive by ELISA for
Borrelia burgdorferi. Serum samples from 15 out of the 19
ELISA-positive patients were further evaluated by Western blot.
Presence of Borrelia burgdorferi specific IgG was confirmed in
eight (53.3%) out of the
15 patients. All eight patients with ELISA and Western blot
positive reactions were treated with doxycycline, according to
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. One of
them had clinical manifestations of colagenosis and was sent to
the Department of Internal Medicine for further investigation.
Data presented here suggested that borreliosis “lato sensu” is in
the Brazilian Amazon region.

 Background: Previous research suggests that low serum concentrations of
the third component of complement (C3) are associated with both the
susceptibility to infectious agents such as Borrelia burgdorferi and the
development of glomerular disease. We hypothesized that low levels of C3
are associated with the coincident occurrence of B. burgdorferi
infection and glomerulonephritis in Bernese Mountain dogs. Continued

Clinical practice guidelines are increasing in number. Unfortunately,
when scientific evidence is uncertain, limited, or evolving, as is often
the case, conflict often arises between guideline committees and
practicing physicians, who bear the direct responsibility for the care of
individual patients. The 2006 Infectious Diseases Society of America
guidelines for Lyme disease, which have limited scientific support,
could, if implemented, limit the clinical discretion of treating physicians
and the treatment options available to patients

Introduction

Clinical practice guidelines are now ubiquitous throughout the
United States. The National Guidelines Clearing House, under the
category “diseases,” currently lists 2,126 separate guidelines on its
web site. Clinical guidelines are intended to assist physicians in
patient care by clearly communicating the results of the guideline
committees’ evaluation of available therapeutic options. However,
the processes by which individual guidelines are constructed may be
less clear, leading to disagreements between the issuing committee
and the physicians who treat patients-physicians who may well be
as experienced and knowledgeable as the guideline committee. Continued