Volume: 8 Table of Contents: I. LYMENET: LYME-PAC Requests NY Dept. of Heath Public Hearings II. ARCH DERMATOL: Infection with multiple strains of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto in patients with Lyme disease. III. J NEUROSCI RES: Borrelia burgdorferi induces matrix metalloproteinases by neural cultures. IV. J MED ENTOMOL: Seasonal activity and host associations of Ixodes scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae) in southeastern Missouri. V. BR J OPHTHALMOL: Ocular manifestations in children and adolescents with Lyme arthritis. VI. ABOUT THE LYMENET NEWSLETTER Newsletter: *********************************************************************** * The National Lyme Disease Network * * http://www.LymeNet.org/ * * LymeNet Newsletter * *********************************************************************** Publishing Lyme disease information on the Internet since 1993 Volume 8 / Number 02 / 22-FEB-2000 INDEX I. LYMENET: LYME-PAC Requests NY Dept. of Heath Public Hearings II. ARCH DERMATOL: Infection with multiple strains of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto in patients with Lyme disease. III. J NEUROSCI RES: Borrelia burgdorferi induces matrix metalloproteinases by neural cultures. IV. J MED ENTOMOL: Seasonal activity and host associations of Ixodes scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae) in southeastern Missouri. V. BR J OPHTHALMOL: Ocular manifestations in children and adolescents with Lyme arthritis. VI. ABOUT THE LYMENET NEWSLETTER =====*===== I. LYMENET: LYME-PAC Requests NY Dept. of Heath Public Hearings ------------------------------------------------------------------ Sender: LYME-PAC <[email protected]> NEW YORK, Feb. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- LYME-PAC, a coalition of 12 regional Lyme patient advocacy groups in New York State, is requesting public hearings regarding the Department of Health's decision to take sides in a heated scientific and medical controversy concerning the appropriate standard for diagnosis and treatment of Lyme and other tick-borne diseases. In a letter dated December 21, 1999, Dr. Ansel Marks of the New York State Department of Health (NYS DOH), stated that, "Rarely if ever have the published guidelines indicated that anything more than two to three weeks of antibiotics are required to cure Lyme disease." The experience of thousands of patients, together with extensive articles in peer-reviewed medical literature, refutes this assertion. There is no scientific proof that 3 weeks of antibiotics will eradicate the Lyme bacteria in most patients. Extensive articles in peer-reviewed medical journals establish that the testing for Lyme disease is unreliable and that the bacteria is often not destroyed by this 2 to 3-week treatment protocol. Physicians who do not adhere to this arbitrarily dictated standard of 2 to 3 weeks of antibiotic treatment are being targeted by the DOH for licensure revocation hearings. LYME-PAC believes that the DOH is violating its role as an honest arbiter and protector of medical conduct. "The DOH is taking sides in a scientific dispute, before all the science is in, at the cost of New Yorkers' lives and well-being. It's inexcusable," says Monica Miller, a spokesperson for the Foundation for the Advancement of Innovative Medicine. LYME-PAC calls for public hearings into the conduct of the DOH in order to preserve the ability of New York State's physicians to practice clinical medicine in accordance with their experience, best judgment and the complete body of scientific evidence available. Physicians must be allowed to tailor treatment on a case-by-case basis. Lyme disease is a multi-systemic disease. Therefore, it is absurd to treat all people with different clinical symptoms the same way. The "one size fits all" approach is inherently incorrect in the practical application of medical science, and it is specifically failing to effectively address the real life medical tragedy in a large number of Lyme disease patients. =====*===== II. ARCH DERMATOL: Infection with multiple strains of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto in patients with Lyme disease. ---------------------------------------------------------------- AUTHORS: Seinost G, Golde WT, Berger BW, Dunn JJ, Qiu D, Dunkin DS Dykhuizen DE, Luft BJ, Dattwyler RJ ORGANIZATION: Department of Medicine, State University of New York at Stony Brook, 11794-8161, USA. REFERENCE: Arch Dermatol 1999 Nov;135(11):1329-33 ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVE: To assess human skin biopsy specimens from erythema migrans lesions for the presence of infection with multiple strains of the Lyme disease spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi. DESIGN: Skin biopsy specimens were obtained prospectively from patients with erythema migrans. To determine allelic differences and strain identification of B burgdorferi, the biopsy specimens were analyzed by cold single-strand conformation polymorphism of an amplified fragment of the outer surface protein C (ospC) gene. Further single-strand conformation polymorphism patterns of amplified ospC genes from culture isolates were compared with polymerase chain reaction products obtained directly from erythema migrans biopsy specimens. SETTING: A private dermatology office and a university medical center outpatient department. PATIENTS: Sixteen patients presenting with erythema migrans. RESULTS: Two of the 16 patients in this cohort were infected with 2 B burgdorferi sensu stricto strains, as evidenced by 2 ospC alleles in their skin biopsy results. CONCLUSION: This is the first documented description of the existence of more than a single strain of B burgdorferi sensu stricto in a human specimen. =====*===== III. J NEUROSCI RES: Borrelia burgdorferi induces matrix metalloproteinases by neural cultures. --------------------------------------------------------- AUTHORS: Perides G, Tanner-Brown LM, Eskildsen MA, Klempner MS ORGANIZATION: Tupper Research Institute, Department of Medicine, Tufts University School of Medicine, New England Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts. [email protected] REFERENCE: J Neurosci Res 1999 Dec 15;58(6):779-90 ABSTRACT: Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are associated with chronic neurologic diseases such as multiple sclerosis and senile dementia. Lyme disease is a multisystemic infection involving the nervous system, skin, joints, and heart. Neurologic manifestations of chronic Lyme disease include encephalopathy and cranial and peripheral neuropathy. Borrelia burgdorferi, the spirochaete causing Lyme disease, has been cultured from the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), and B. burgdorferi DNA is frequently detected in the CSF of patients with Lyme neuroborreliosis. We used cerebral and cerebellar primary cultures to determine whether B. burgdorferi induces the production of MMPs by primary neural cultures. B. burgdorferi in a dose- and time-dependent manner induced the expression of MMP-9 by primary neural cultures but had no effect on the expression of MMP-2. Human and rat type I astrocytes expressed MMP-9 when incubated with B. burgdorferi in the same manner as primary neural cultures. This response may play a role in the symptomatology and the pathogenesis of Lyme neuroborreliosis. =====*===== IV. J MED ENTOMOL: Seasonal activity and host associations of Ixodes scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae) in southeastern Missouri. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- AUTHORS: Kollars TM Jr, Oliver JH Jr, Kollars PG, Durden LA ORGANIZATION: Institute of Arthropodology and Parasitology, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro 30460, USA. REFERENCE: J Med Entomol 1999 Nov;36(6):720-6 ABSTRACT: Based on tick collections recovered from wild vertebrates and by dragging, the seasonal occurrence of adult blacklegged ticks, Ixodes scapularis Say, extended from October through May in southeastern Missouri. Adult activity was bimodal with the higher peak occurring in November followed by a lower peak in February. The activity of immature I. scapularis had the general pattern of that found in the Northeast where Lyme disease is hyperendemic, with larval activity (July) peaking after that of nymphs (May and June). Vertebrates varied in their importance as hosts of I. scapularis. White-tailed deer, Odocoileus virginanus (Zimmerman), and coyotes, Canis latrans Say, were the primary hosts of adult I. scapularis. Broad-headed skinks, Eumeces laticeps (Schneider), and eastern fence lizards, Sceloporus undulatus (Latreille), were the primary hosts of nymphal I. scapularis. The broad-headed skink, 5-lined skink, Eumeces fasciatus (L.), and Carolina wren, Thryothorus ludovicianus (Latham), were the primary hosts of larval I. scapularis. Homeotherms were important hosts of immature I. scapularis, accounting for 30% of nymphs and 39% of larvae collected. The eastern cottontail rabbit, Sylvilagus floridanus (Allen), may play an important role in the epidemiology of Lyme disease in Missouri. Isolates of Borrelia burgdorferi Johnson, Schmid, Hyde, Steigerwalt & Brenner were made from ticks recovered from rabbits, making the cottontail rabbit a key species for further study of the epidemiology of Lyme borreliosis in Missouri. =====*===== V. BR J OPHTHALMOL: Ocular manifestations in children and adolescents with Lyme arthritis. ------------------------------------------------------------ AUTHORS: Huppertz HI, Munchmeier D, Lieb W ORGANIZATION: Children's Hospital, University of Wurzburg, Wurzburg, Germany. REFERENCE: Br J Ophthalmol 1999 Oct;83(10):1149-52 ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Lyme arthritis is the most frequent late manifestation of Lyme borreliosis and has been associated with ocular inflammation. METHODS: A group of 153 children and adolescents with arthritis, 84 of whom had Lyme arthritis and 69 other causes of arthritis, were followed prospectively for 22-73 (median 44) months in the course of a national study. RESULTS: Three of 84 patients with Lyme arthritis had ocular inflammation (4%), including keratitis, anterior uveitis, and uveitis intermedia. All three had symptoms of decreased visual acuity. Whereas anterior uveitis disappeared without sequelae, a corneal scar and a permanent loss of visual acuity in the patients with keratitis and intermediate uveitis remained. Systematic examination of all patients revealed no further ocular involvement. Of 69 patients with other causes of arthritis who were followed in parallel as a control group, four of 15 patients with early onset pauciarticular juvenile rheumatoid arthritis had chronic anterior uveitis and two of 12 patients with juvenile spondyloarthropathy had acute anterior uveitis. CONCLUSIONS: Ocular involvement with keratitis, anterior uveitis, and intermediate uveitis may occur in children and adolescents with Lyme arthritis. Visual loss appears to be symptomatic, making regular ocular screening of such patients unnecessary. =====*===== VI. ABOUT THE LYMENET NEWSLETTER ----------------------------------------------------------------------- For the most current information on LymeNet subscriptions, contributions, and other sources of information on Lyme disease, please refer to: http://newsletter.lymenet.org ----------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the LymeNet newsletter, send a message to: [email protected] On the first line of the message, write: unsub lymenet-l ----------------------------------------------------------------------- LymeNet - The Internet Lyme Disease Information Source ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Editor-in-Chief: Marc C. Gabriel <[email protected]> Contributing Editors: Carl Brenner <[email protected]> John Setel O'Donnell <[email protected]> Frank Demarest <[email protected]> Advisors: Carol-Jane Stolow, Director <[email protected]> William S. Stolow, President <[email protected]> The Lyme Disease Network of New Jersey ----------------------------------------------------------------------- WHEN COMMENTS ARE PRESENTED WITH AN ATTRIBUTION, THEY DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENT THE OPINIONS/ANALYSES OF THE EDITORS. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- THIS NEWSLETTER MAY BE REPRODUCED AND/OR POSTED ON BULLETIN BOARDS FREELY AS LONG AS IT IS NOT MODIFIED OR ABRIDGED IN ANY WAY. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SEND ALL BUG REPORTS TO [email protected] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- |
Home |
Flash Discussion |
Support Groups |
On-Line Library © 1994-1999
The Lyme Disease Network of New Jersey, Inc. |