Borrelia News and Research

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Researchers adapt gene chip microarray technology to study glycans

Sugar molecules coat every cell in our bodies and play critical roles in development and disease, yet the components of these "glycans" have been difficult for scientists to study, because of their complexity.

6 Dec 2010

Scientists complete genetic blueprints for 13 different strains of Lyme disease bacteria

Scientists supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have determined the complete genetic blueprints for 13 different strains of Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacteria that cause Lyme disease. The achievement should lead to a better understanding of how genetic variations among strains may result in different courses of illness in people with Lyme disease, the most common tickborne disease in North America. The wealth of new genetic data will also help scientists develop improved ways to diagnose, treat and prevent Lyme disease.

19 Oct 2010

Researchers determine genetic blueprint of 13 strains of Lyme disease causing bacteria

Benjamin Luft, M.D., Professor of Medicine, Stony Brook University Medical Center, and a team of medical researchers have determined the genetic blueprint of 13 strains of the bacteria that cause Lyme disease. The finding is crucial to advancing research on Lyme disease, the most frequent tick-borne infection in North America and Europe, and may lead to better diagnostics and a vaccine.

14 Oct 2010

Studies reveal impact and spread of CVBDs worldwide

Fascinating studies giving new insights into the spread of leishmaniosis in the UK and France, the appearance of new CVBDs in Germany, the state of heartworm infection in Korea and the neurological impact on humans of long-term bartonella infection from the USA are among the papers now available for download from http://www.cvbd.org, as the proceedings of the 5th Annual Canine Vector Borne Disease (CVBD) World Forum are made available online today.

28 Jul 2010

Preventative measures to avoid Lyme disease

Research on the population of black-legged ticks, which can transmit Lyme disease from host animals to humans, reinforces that it is important to take preventative measures when spending time outdoors.

21 Jul 2010

New DNA test to detect Lyme disease spirochete infection

Many of the more than 30,000 people a year in the United States with suspected cases of Lyme disease spirochete (bacterial) infection can now take a DNA test developed by a Connecticut scientist/physician and his team that can quickly determine if they test positive for Lyme spirochetes in their blood.

30 Mar 2010

Body lice and head lice have same origin

Body lice, which cause highly lethal epidemics (trench fever, typhus and relapsing fever Borrelia), originate from head lice. This has recently been shown by a team from the Emerging Infectious and Tropical Diseases Research Unit (CNRS/IRD/Université de la Méditerranée), in collaboration with researchers from the Universities of Florida and Illinois (US).

26 Mar 2010

Researchers keep wary eye on emerging tick-borne diseases in Missouri

Stories of environmental damage and their consequences always seem to take place far away and in another country, usually a tropical one with lush rainforests and poison dart frogs.

26 Feb 2010

Habitat destruction and biodiversity loss can increase the incidence of infectious diseases

The extinction of plant and animal species can be likened to emptying a museum of its collection, or dumping a cabinet full of potential medicines into the trash, or replacing every local cuisine with McDonald's burgers.

4 Dec 2009

Researchers to discover new vaccine against infection from Lyme disease

A protein found in the saliva of ticks helps protect mice from developing Lyme disease, Yale researchers have discovered. The findings, published in the November 19 issue of Cell Host & Microbe, may spur development of a new vaccine against infection from Lyme disease, which is spread through tick bites.

20 Nov 2009

Researchers analyze the role of bioactive lipids in inflammatory diseases

According to the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, 46 million Americans have arthritis. Many of these people take over-the-counter anti-inflammatory medications that block production of certain molecules, known as bioactive lipids, to reduce pain and swelling. Yet, the role of these lipids is not yet understood completely, and medications may have adverse side effects.

2 Sep 2009

Lyme disease emerging in Canada

Lyme disease is emerging in Canada, and is expected to increase with climate change, but effective, enhanced surveillance and clinician awareness will be key to minimizing the impact of the disease, write researchers in a review in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).

9 Jun 2009

Scientists identify protein key to Lyme disease

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have identified a protein that may help give Lyme disease its bite.

9 Feb 2009

Natural killer T cells play important role in Lyme disease

A research team led by the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology and Albany Medical College has illuminated the important role of natural killer (NK) T cells in Lyme disease, demonstrating that the once little understood white blood cells are central to clearing the bacterial infection and reducing the intensity and duration of arthritis associated with Lyme disease.

3 Dec 2008

Scientists identify blood component that turns anthrax bacteria virulent

Scientists from the Scripps Research Institute have discovered the key chemical that signals Bacillus anthracis , the bacterium that causes anthrax, to become lethal.

21 Nov 2008

Reason for body's response to borrelia discovered

Inside a cell it is so crowded that a certain protein from borrelia winds up being crunched. From having been like an oblong rugby football, it gets bent and then collapses into a lump. At this point a previously hidden part appears, known to trigger the formation of antibodies. This explains how Borrelia can be diagnosed, a process that was previously unknown.

12 Oct 2008

Lyme disease - a tough nut to crack!

The bacteria that cause Lyme disease, the most common tick-borne illness in the United States, can linger in mouse tissues long after a full round of antibiotic treatment is completed, report researchers from the University of California, Davis.

2 Apr 2008

Ticks abound both sides of the Atlantic

Ticks are making their presence felt both sides of the Atlantic. The British public is being warned to take precautions against ticks following a rise in the tick population after a wet and mild summer

17 Sep 2007

Lyme disease on the increase in U.S.

Reported cases of Lyme disease have more than doubled since 1991, when Lyme became a nationally notifiable disease, according to a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

17 Jun 2007

Combination Lyme disease vaccine proteins patented

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory and collaborators at Stony Brook University have received U.S. Patent Number 7,179,448 for developing chimeric, or "combination," proteins that may advance the development of vaccines and diagnostic tests for Lyme disease.

9 Apr 2007