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Volume: 3
Issue: 04
Date: 20-Mar-95


Table of Contents:

I.    LYMENET: Lyme Disease Newsgroup Proposal Ready for
      Discussion
II.   Q&A: Experience with timentin or cefpodoxime in LD? (Q)
III.  J INFECT DIS: Cultivation and phylogenetic characterization
      of a newly recognized human pathogenic protozoan
IV.   FEMS MICROBIOL LETT: Relationship between infectivity
      and OspC expression in Lyme disease Borrelia
V.    MICROBIOL IMMUNOL: Polymerase chain reaction analysis of
      Borrelia species isolated in Japan
VI.   About The LymeNet Newsletter


Newsletter:

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*                  The National Lyme Disease Network                  *
*                         LymeNet Newsletter                          *
***********************************************************************


IDX#                Volume 3 - Number 04 - 3/20/95
IDX#                            INDEX
IDX#
IDX#  I.    LYMENET: Lyme Disease Newsgroup Proposal Ready for
IDX#        Discussion
IDX#  II.   Q&A: Experience with timentin or cefpodoxime in LD? (Q)
IDX#  III.  J INFECT DIS: Cultivation and phylogenetic characterization
IDX#        of a newly recognized human pathogenic protozoan
IDX#  IV.   FEMS MICROBIOL LETT: Relationship between infectivity
IDX#        and OspC expression in Lyme disease Borrelia
IDX#  V.    MICROBIOL IMMUNOL: Polymerase chain reaction analysis of
IDX#        Borrelia species isolated in Japan
IDX#  VI.   About The LymeNet Newsletter
IDX#




I.    LYMENET: Lyme Disease Newsgroup Proposal Ready for Discussion
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Sender: Linda Palund <[email protected]>


A proposal has been made to the Usenet Newsgroups for the creation
of a Lyme Disease newsgroup.  The proposed discussion group would be
intended as an open forum on the many aspects of Lyme Disease as
experienced by everyone involved or interested in the disease.


This newsgroup will give everyone an opportunity to interact with
other people affected by Lyme disease and to share what knowledge and
information they might be able to contribute.  For many Lyme Disease
patients, unable to participate in an established support group
because of the debilitating effects of the disease, this discussion
group will enable them to communicate with other sufferers from all
over the world.


The RFD (Request for Discussion) was submitted March 7th to the
following newsgroups: news.announce.newgroups, news.groups,
alt.med.fibromyalgia, alt.support.arthritis, misc.health.arthritis,
sci.med, & sci.med.immunology.  Please take a look at it and feel
free to e-mail its proponent, Linda Palund at
[email protected] .



-----


II.   Q&A: Experience with timentin or cefpodoxime in LD? (Q)
------------------------------------------------------------
Sender: Clyde Smith-Stubbs <[email protected]>


Does anyone have any experience with the use of these antibiotics
in treating Lyme Disease?


1) cefpodoxime proxetil (3rd generation oral cephalosporin)
2) timentin (ticacillin + clavulanic acid)



-----


III.  J INFECT DIS: Cultivation and phylogenetic characterization
     of a newly recognized human pathogenic protozoan
-----------------------------------------------------------------
AUTHORS: Thomford JW,  Conrad PA,  Telford SR 3rd,  Mathiesen D,
        Bowman BH, Spielman A, Eberhard ML,  Herwaldt BL,  
        Quick RE, Persing DH
ORGANIZATION: Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology,
             School of Veterinary Medicine, University of
             California, Davis
REFERENCE: Journal of Infectious Diseases. 169(5):1050-6, 1994
ABSTRACT:


An intraerythrocytic protozoan (WAl) recently isolated from a patient
in Washington State was shown to be morphologically identical to
Babesia microti but biologically and genetically distinct.  
Continuous growth of WAl was established in stationary erythrocyte
cultures.  Hybridization of a chemiluminescent Babesia-specific DNA
probe to Southern blots of restriction enzyme-digested genomic
DNA showed that WAl could be distinguished from other Babesia
species that were antigenically cross-reactive (Babesia gibsoni and
babesial parasites from desert bighorn sheep, ovis canadensis
nelsoni) or known to infect humans (B. microti, Babesia divergens,
and Babesia equi), or both.  A 1436-bp portion of the nuclear small
subunit RRNA gene of WAI was sequenced and analyzed.  Genetic distance
analysis showed that WAl is most closely related to the canine
pathogen B. gibsoni and lies within a phylogenetic cluster with
Theileria species and B. equi.  The methodology described will be
useful for improved diagnosis and identification of human protozoal

pathogens.


-----


IV.   FEMS MICROBIOL LETT: Relationship between infectivity
     and OspC expression in Lyme disease Borrelia
-----------------------------------------------------------
AUTHORS: Masuzawa T, Kurita T, Kawabata H, Yanagihara Y
ORGANIZATION: Department of Microbiology, School of
             Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Shizuoka,
             Japan
REFERENCE: FEMS Microbiol Lett 1994 Nov 1;123(3):319-24
ABSTRACT:


Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto strain 297 and B. garinii
strains HP1 and 12-92 were serially subcultured for 36-50 passages
in vitro for 1 year. All low-passage strains showed abundant
expression of outer surface protein C (OspC) in the 22-23-kDa range,
but the high-passage strains lost or showed reduced expression of
OspC in comparison with the low-passage strains.  The low-passage
strains efficiently infected outbred ddY mice when inoculated into
the hind footpad or peritoneal cavity.  In contrast, the incidence
of infection with the high-passage strains was low.  Isolates from
the bladders of mice inoculated with the high-passage strains
expressed large amounts of OspC in comparison with those originally
inoculated.  These results indicate that OspC expression is related
to the infectivity of Lyme disease borreliae.



-----


V.    MICROBIOL IMMUNOL: Polymerase chain reaction analysis of
     Borrelia species isolated in Japan
--------------------------------------------------------------
AUTHORS: Kawabata H, Tashibu H, Yamada K, Masuzawa T, Yanagihara Y
ORGANIZATION: Department of Microbiology, School of Pharmaceutical
             Sciences, University of Shizuoka, Japan
REFERENCE: Microbiol Immunol 1994;38(8):591-8
ABSTRACT:


Primer reactivities of 25 Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato isolates
from the ticks, Ixodes persulcatus and I. ovatus, in Japan and 10
isolates in Europe and North America were investigated.  The methods
used in this study were the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) on the
flagellin structural gene (fla), the outer surface protein A gene
(osp A) and the outer surface protein B gene (osp B), and the
restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis of PCR
products from osp A and osp B.  The flagellin PCR primer set reacted
with all the Borrelia strains tested.  Four genospecies, B.
burgdorferi sensu stricto, B. garinii, B. afzelii and B. japonica,
were differentiated by PCR using osp A and osp B primers combined
with RFLP analysis.


Some Japanese isolates from I. persulcatus were identified as B.
garinii or B. afzelii.  The other isolates from I. persulcatus did
not fit in any of the 4 genospecies.  These results suggested that
Japanese isolates from I. persulcatus are highly heterogeneous in
their osp A and osp B structures. Furthermore, PCR primers targeting
fla are applicable to the gene diagnosis for Lyme disease in Japan,
and osp A and osp B primers can be used to classify B. burgdorferi
sensu lato isolates into genospecies by PCR and RFLP analyses.



-----


VI.   ABOUT THE LYMENET NEWSLETTER
-----------------------------------
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Advisors: Carol-Jane Stolow, Director <[email protected]>
         William S. Stolow, President <[email protected]>

         The Lyme Disease Network of New Jersey (908-390-5027)
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