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Volume: 7
Issue: 06
Date: 23-Jun-99


Table of Contents:

I.    LDF: Free Presentation on Lyme Disease and Other Tick-Borne
      Disorders
II.   GRAEFES ARCH CLIN EXP OPTHALMOL: The laboratory diagnosis of
      ocular Lyme borreliosis.
III.  MOL MED: Interaction of Borrelia burgdorferi with peripheral
      blood fibrocytes, antigen-presenting cells with the potential
      for connective tissue targeting.
IV.   ARCH MED RES: Serologic evidences suggesting the presence of
      Borrelia burgdorferi infection in Mexico.
V.    INFECT IMMUN: Genetic control of experimental lyme arthritis in
      the absence of specific immunity.
VI.   ABOUT THE LYMENET NEWSLETTER


Newsletter:

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                  Volume 7 / Number 06 / 23-JUN-1999
  INDEX


I.    LDF: Free Presentation on Lyme Disease and Other Tick-Borne
     Disorders
II.   GRAEFES ARCH CLIN EXP OPTHALMOL: The laboratory diagnosis of
     ocular Lyme borreliosis.
III.  MOL MED: Interaction of Borrelia burgdorferi with peripheral
     blood fibrocytes, antigen-presenting cells with the potential
     for connective tissue targeting.
IV.   ARCH MED RES: Serologic evidences suggesting the presence of
     Borrelia burgdorferi infection in Mexico.
V.    INFECT IMMUN: Genetic control of experimental lyme arthritis in
     the absence of specific immunity.
VI.   ABOUT THE LYMENET NEWSLETTER



=====*=====


I.    LDF: Free Presentation on Lyme Disease and Other Tick-Borne
     Disorders
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Sender: The Lyme Disease Foundation <[email protected]>


The Lyme Disease Foundation will sponsor a free presentation on Lyme
disease and other tick-borne disorders at:


       Rowan University
       Student Health Ctr - Linden
       201 Mullica Hill Rd
       Glasboro, NJ
       Thursday, July 8, 1999
       7 to 10 pm


Among the presentations:

"Diagnosis & Treatment of Lyme Disease, Ehrlichiosis, and Babesiosis"
   Tony Lionetti, MD - Practitioner - Researcher, New Jersey

"Prevention and Educational Efforts for Your Community"
  Karen Vanderhoof-Forschner, MBA, CPCU, CLU
  CoFounder of the Lyme Disease Foundation
  Author, Everything You Need to Know About Lyme Disease.


James Occi, Tick researcher

Healthcare providers, patients, and the public are invited to attend!  For
more information contact the  Lyme Disease Foundation at www.Lyme.org,
[email protected] or call 860-525-2000.



=====*=====


II.   GRAEFES ARCH CLIN EXP OPTHALMOL: The laboratory diagnosis of
     ocular Lyme borreliosis.
------------------------------------------------------------------
AUTHORS: Mikkila H, Karma A, Viljanen M, Seppala I
ORGANIZATION: Department of Ophthalmology, Helsinki University
             Central Hospital, Finland.
REFERENCE: Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol 1999 Mar;237(3):225-30
ABSTRACT:


BACKGROUND: A study was carried out to evaluate indirect enzyme-linked
immunosorbent assay (ELISA), immunoblot analysis, and polymerase chain
reaction (PCR) in the diagnostic work-up of ocular Lyme borreliosis.
METHODS: Twenty patients with ocular Lyme borreliosis were examined.
IgG and IgM antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi were measured by ELISA
in serum, and in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) when indicated, and
immunoblot analysis of B. burgdorferi IgG antibodies in serum was
performed. A nested PCR was used to detect a segment of a gene
coding for B. burgdorferi endoflagellin. The samples used in PCR
testing were serum and CSF and in isolated cases conjunctiva and
vitreous.
RESULTS: Seventeen patients had elevated Borrelia antibodies in serum
or CSF by ELISA. Seven patients, including two with negative ELISA,
had a positive immunoblot. Seven of the 13 patients in whom PCR was
examined during clinically active disease had a positive PCR result.
Immunoblot analysis gave a negative result from the sera of five

PCR-positive patients.
CONCLUSIONS: For efficient diagnosis of ocular Lyme borreliosis,
immunoblot analysis and PCR should be used in addition to ELISA.
A positive PCR seems to be associated with a negative immunoblot.



=====*=====


III.  MOL MED: Interaction of Borrelia burgdorferi with peripheral
     blood fibrocytes, antigen-presenting cells with the potential
     for connective tissue targeting.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
AUTHORS: Grab DJ, Lanners H, Martin LN, Chesney J, Cai C, Adkisson HD
        Bucala R
ORGANIZATION: Tulane Regional Primate Research Center, Covington,
             Louisiana, USA.  [email protected]
REFERENCE: Mol Med 1999 Jan;5(1):46-54
ABSTRACT:


BACKGROUND: Borrelia Burgdorferi has a predilection for collagenous
tissue and can interact with fibronectin and cellular collagens.
While the molecular mechanisms of how B. burgdorferi targets
connective tissues and causes arthritis are not understood, the
spirochetes can bind to a number of different cell types, including
fibroblasts. A novel circulating fibroblast-like cell called the
peripheral blood fibrocyte has recently been described. Fibrocytes
express collagen types I and III as well as fibronectin. Besides
playing a role in wound healing, fibrocytes have the potential to
target to connective tissue and the functional capacity to recruit,
activate, and present antigen to CD4(+) T cells.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Rhesus monkey fibrocytes were isolated and
characterized by flow cytometry. B. burgdorferi were incubated with
human or monkey fibrocyte cultures in vitro and the cellular
interactions analyzed by light and electron microscopy. The two
strains of B. burgdorferi studied included JD1, which is highly

pathogenic for monkeys, and M297, which lacks the cell surface OspA
and OspB proteins.
RESULTS: In this study, we demonstrate that B. burgdorferi binds to
both human and monkey (rhesus) fibrocytes in vitro. This process does
not require OspA or OspB. In addition, the spirochetes are not
phagocytosed but are taken into deep recesses of the cell membrane,
a process that may protect them from the immune system.
CONCLUSIONS: This interaction between B. burgdorferi and peripheral
blood fibrocytes provides a potential explanation for the targeting
of spirochetes to joint connective tissue and may contribute to the
inflammatory process in Lyme arthritis.



=====*=====


IV.   ARCH MED RES: Serologic evidences suggesting the presence of
     Borrelia burgdorferi infection in Mexico.
------------------------------------------------------------------
AUTHORS: Gordillo G, Torres J, Solorzano F, Cedillo-Rivera R
        Tapia-Conyer R, Munoz O
ORGANIZATION: Servicio de Infectologia, Hospital de Pediatria, Centro
             Medico Nacional Siglo XXI, IMSS, Mexico, D.F.
REFERENCE: Arch Med Res 1999 Jan-Feb;30(1):64-8
ABSTRACT:


BACKGROUND: Lyme disease is the most common vector-borne human disease
in Europe and the United States. In Mexico, clinical cases suggestive
of Lyme borreliosis have been reported; however, infection was not
confirmed by serologic or microbiologic tests.
METHODS: To study the prevalence of IgG antibodies against Borrelia
burgdorferi among Mexican persons, a community-based sero-survey
including all states of Mexico was done. A sample of 2,890 sera
representing individuals of all ages and all socioeconomic levels was
studied. Antibodies anti-B. burgdorferi were determined by
enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using a whole-cell
sonicated extract of B. burgdorferi strain B31. Serum specimens
positive for ELISA were further studied by Western blot (WB).
A serum sample was considered positive by WB if at least three of
the following protein bands were recognized: 18, 24, 28, 29, 31,
34, 39, 41, 45, 58, 62, 66, and 93 kDa. Some WB positive specimens
were further confirmed with an immunodot-blot (IDB) test using

recombinant and purified B. burgdorferi proteins.
RESULTS: Of the 2,890 specimens, 34 were positive for ELISA; nine
of these 34 were confirmed as positive by WB. Four of the nine WB
positive sera were tested by IDB and all four were positive.
The prevalence of WB confirmed cases in the sample studied was
0.3%. Positive specimens were from residents of the northeastern
and central areas of Mexico.
CONCLUSIONS: The serological evidences of this study suggest that
Borrelia burgdorferi infection is present in the Mexican population.
This finding should be confirmed by documenting the infection in
clinical cases and in tick vectors.



=====*=====


V.    INFECT IMMUN: Genetic control of experimental lyme arthritis in
     the absence of specific immunity.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
AUTHORS: Brown CR, Reiner SL
ORGANIZATION: Department of Medicine and Gwen Knapp Center for Lupus
             and Immunology Research, Committee on Immunology,
     University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA.
REFERENCE: Infect Immun 1999 Apr;67(4):1967-73
ABSTRACT:


Host genetics play an important role in determining resistance or
susceptibility to experimental Lyme arthritis. While specific immunity
appears to regulate disease resolution, innate immunity appears to
regulate disease severity. Intradermal infection with Borrelia
burgdorferi yields severe arthritis in C3H/He (C3H) mice but only
minimal arthritis in BALB/c mice. Intradermal infection of
immunodeficient C3H SCID mice also results in severe arthritis, but
arthritis of only moderate severity in BALB/c SCID mice. In the
present study, we examined immunodeficient recombinase-activating
gene-knockout (RAG-1(-/-)) (RAG-) mice from resistant C57BL/6 (B6)
and DBA/2 (DBA) mouse strains. B. burgdorferi-infected B6 RAG- and
DBA RAG- mice had little or no ankle swelling, a low occurrence of
inflammatory infiltrates in tibiotarsal joints, and low arthritis
severity scores in comparison to RAG+ and RAG- BALB/c or C3H mice.
Few differences in spirochete DNA levels in ankles of resistant and
susceptible RAG- mice were seen. These data suggest that resistance

to arthritis development following B. burgdorferi infection is not
necessarily dependent on an acquired immune response and can occur
despite the presence of high spirochete burden. Thus, genes expressed
outside the specific immune response can be central regulators of
experimental arthritis.



=====*=====


VI.   ABOUT THE LYMENET NEWSLETTER
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