Category Archives: Research

CanLyme is dedicated to promoting advancements in Lyme disease research. More research is needed to accurately diagnose and treat Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses and CanLyme has taken measures to address this, see our Venture Grants Policy.

CanLyme board member Reuben Kaufman, PhD has an ambitious tick study project underway on Salt Spring Island, BC and his program is also able to feed ticks to another CanLyme board member Janet Sperling who is completing her doctorate on examining the various pathogens that are found in the guts of Canadian ticks.
The articles and abstracts below have primarily been sourced from: PubMed.gov or the individual journals in which they were published. Please click the PubMed or journal link to read the whole article on their site.

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Recent in: Research

Lyme Encephalopathy: Impact on Quality of Life

B.L. Goldklang (1), S.S. Festa (1), and J.S. Hason (1,2). Lyme Disease Coalition of New York and Connecticut, Katonah, NY, USA (1); Arthritis Foundation, Long Island, NY, USA (2). Lyme encephalopathy has been defined in the medical literature as a “mild confusional state” characterized by subtle disturbances in memory, mood, and sleep.1’3 To patients with this syndrome, however, this mild Continues →

Establishment of a continuous in vitro culture of Babesia duncani in human erythrocytes reveals unusually high tolerance to recommended therapies. [ie Mepron not too effective?]

November 21st, 2018 Abstract Human babesiosis is an emerging tick-borne disease caused by apicomplexan parasites of the genus Babesia. Clinical cases caused by Babesia duncani have been associated with high parasite burden, severe pathology and death. In both mice and hamsters, the parasite causes uncontrolled fulminant infections, which ultimately lead to death. Resolving these infections requires knowledge of B. duncani biology, virulence, and susceptibility to  antiinfectives, but Continues →

Evaluating polymicrobial immune responses in patients suffering from tick-borne diseases

October 29 2018, Garga K et al There is insufficient evidence to support screening of various tick-borne diseases (TBD) related microbes alongside Borrelia in patients suffering from TBD. To evaluate the involvement of multiple microbial immune responses in patients experiencing TBD we utilized enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Four hundred and thirty-two human serum samples organized into seven categories followed Centers for Continues →

Learning From Patients’ Experiences Related To Diagnostic Errors Is Essential For Progress In Patient Safety

Health Affairs : Nov 2108 10.1377/hlthaff.2018.0698 HEALTH AFFAIRS 37, NO. 11 (2018): 1821–1827 ABSTRACT Diagnostic error research has largely focused on individual clinicians’ decision making and system design, while overlooking information from patients. We analyzed a unique new data source of patient- and family-reported error narratives to explore factors that contribute to diagnostic errors. From reports of adverse medical events Continues →

Detection of tick-borne infection in Morgellons disease patients by serological and molecular techniques

Marianne J Middelveen, Iris Du Cruz, Melissa C Fesler, Raphael B Stricker, Jyotsna S Shah 1Atkins Veterinary Services, Calgary, AB, Canada; 2IGeneX Laboratories, Palo Alto, CA, USA; 3Union Square Medical Associates, San Francisco, CA, USA Background: Morgellons disease (MD) is a skin condition associated with Lyme disease (LD) and tick-borne illness. Patients with this skin disorder experience ulcerative lesions that contain multicolored filamentous collagen and keratin inclusions. Continues →

Tick-borne disease is multiple microbial in nature

Nov. 1, 2018 A study recently published in Scientific Reports discovered that 65% of Lyme disease patients irrespective of their disease stage respond to several microbes. As a consequence, the authors have demonstrated that microbial infections in individuals suffering from Lyme disease do not follow the “one microbe, one disease” status-quo. Moreover, the probability that Lyme disease patients would respond Continues →

Mount Allison University’s Lyme Research Network presents their 2017 – 2018 report on research funded by the Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation

Another successful year building capacity and knowledge within the Canadian science community. These funded students will be our near-future experts. “Overview On May 2017, Mount Allison University announced the formation of the Mount Allison Lyme Research Network, formed with support of the Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation. This network consists of 14 researchers united to provide a comprehensive approach to Lyme Continues →

Canadian Lyme disease patient groups united in rejecting the ‘one research network only’ concept of the federal government

[CanLyme Note: There is already another pan-Canadian research network that has been up and running for over a year, the Canadian Lyme Consortium. This network works closely with the patient groups together with physicians and scientists and has from it’s formation.] Joint press release “Lyme patient groups from across Canada are unified in their concern over the federal Minister of Health’s Continues →

Genome-wide analysis of Borrelia turcica and ‘Candidatus Borrelia tachyglossi’ shows relapsing fever-like genomes with unique genomic links to Lyme disease Borrelia.

doi: 10.1016/j.meegid.2018.09.013 September 18, 2018 ABSTRACT Borrelia are tick-borne bacteria that in humans are the aetiological agents of Lyme disease and relapsing fever. Here we present the first genomes of B. turcica and B. tachyglossi, members of a recently described and rapidly expanding Borrelia clade associated with reptile (B. turcica) or echidna (B. tachyglossi) hosts, transmitted by hard ticks, and Continues →

One in three ticks in Canada’s capital, Ottawa, carries Lyme disease yet no help for the tens of thousands chronically ill across the country due to false information.

[CanLyme note: For decades Canadian health care leadership have downplayed the prevalence of Lyme disease (borreliosis) in ticks based upon poor surveillance protocol while ignoring reams of published research. They further downplayed the prevalence of this disease in humans with an outrageous, dangerous and deadly adherence to a testing policy that they knew missed most cases. Canadians must be fearful of Continues →

Lyme disease can be transmitted from tick in 12 hours new research shows.

[CanLyme Note: Will the Canadian government labs and physicians now stop telling everyone they cannot have Lyme because the tick was not attached for 24 or more hours?] Infection Kinetics and Tropism of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato in Mouse After Natural (via Ticks) or Artificial (Needle) Infection Depends on the Bacterial Strain ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE Front. Microbiol., 31 July 2018 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2018.01722 Continues →

Neuropsychiatric Lyme Borreliosis: An Overview with a Focus on a Specialty Psychiatrist’s Clinical Practice

Pulished August 25, 2018 Robert C Bransfield Department of Psychiatry, Rutgers-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA Abstract   There is increasing evidence and recognition that Lyme borreliosis (LB) causes mental symptoms. This article draws from databases, search engines and clinical experience to review current information on LB. LB causes immune and metabolic effects that result in a Continues →

Far-Reaching Dispersal of Borrelia burgdorferi Sensu Lato-Infected Blacklegged Ticks by Migratory Songbirds in Canada

https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare6030089 Abstract Lyme disease has been documented in northern areas of Canada, but the source of the etiological bacterium, Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (Bbsl) has been in doubt. We collected 87 ticks from 44 songbirds during 2017, and 24 (39%) of 62 nymphs of the blacklegged tick, Ixodes scapularis, were positive for Bbsl. We provide the first report of Bbsl-infected, songbird-transported I. scapularis in Cape Continues →

Borrelia burgdorferi adhere to blood vessels in the dura mater and are associated with increased meningeal T cells during murine disseminated borreliosis

Published: May 3, 2018 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0196893 ABSTRACT Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease, is a vector-borne bacterial infection that is transmitted through the bite of an infected tick. If not treated with antibiotics during the early stages of infection, disseminated infection can spread to the central nervous system (CNS). In non-human primates (NHPs) it has been demonstrated that the Continues →

What are implications for eastern Canada? – New York – Warning Issued After New Tick Species Discovered In Westchester

[CanLyme Note:  Ticks in New York state are only a short flight away aboard our migratory passerine birds ie robins, finches, wrens. who bring these ticks into Canada in the millions each year.] July 18th, 2018 State officials are warning New York residents, visitors and farmers about the continued importance of taking measures to protect against ticks, as a new tick species Continues →