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

Review of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence in UK guidelines for Lyme disease

[CanLyme Note: NICE in the UK, similar to the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) is given statutory distinction.  NICE published Lyme disease guidelines using their legislated privilege.  In Canada, the Association of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (AMMI) and PHAC have openly supported the NICE guidelines. PHAC regularly abuses its legislated privilege and AMMI continually makes misleading false statements to Continues →

Parenting When Children Have Lyme Disease: Fear, Frustration, Advocacy

Emilie M. Gaudet 1 , Odette N. Gould 1,*, Vett Lloyd 2 1 Department of Psychology, Mount Allison University, Sackville, NB E4L 1C7 Canada 2 Department of Biology, Mount Allison University, Sackville, NB E4L 1G7 Canada * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. Healthcare 2019, 7(3), 95; doi.org/10.3390/healthcare7030095 Abstract Increasing numbers of Canadians, including children and adolescents, are being infected with Borrelia burgdorferi and contracting Lyme disease. Continues →

Mouse genome unraveled. Perhaps new strategies to curtail the proliferation of tick-borne and other infectious diseases.

The genome of Peromyscus leucopus, natural host for Lyme disease and other emerging infections July 24, 2019 Abstract   The rodent Peromyscus leucopus is the natural reservoir of several tick-borne infections, including Lyme disease. To expand the knowledge base for this key species in life cycles of several pathogens, we assembled and scaffolded the P. leucopus genome. The resulting assembly was 2.45 Gb in total Continues →

A Case of Tularemia in a Prosthetic Joint Infection

https://doi.org/10.3928/01477447-20190627-01 Abstract Periprosthetic infections occur in approximately 0.8% to 1.9% of all total knee arthroplasties (TKAs). Even with these low rates, it is rare to find a zoonotic bacterium causing a periprosthetic infection. In this case report, the authors identify the second documented case of a total joint infection with Francisella tularensis in the world and the first in the United States. Continues →

Breakthrough paves way for new Lyme disease treatment

published June 17th, 2019 A Virginia Tech biochemist has discovered the cellular component that contributes to Lyme arthritis, a debilitating and extremely painful condition that is the most common late stage symptom of Lyme disease, a press release said. According to the release from Virginia Tech, the biochemist, Brandon Jutras, found that as the Lyme-causing bacteria borrelia burgdorferi multiplies, it sheds a cellular component called peptidoglycan Continues →

Co-infection of bacteria and protozoan parasites in Ixodes ricinus nymphs collected in the Alsace region, France

[CanLyme Note: ‘No Tick is a Good Tick’ Canadian ticks are equally co-infected.] https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ttbdis.2019.06.001 Abstract Fifty nymphal Ixodes ricinus ticks collected in Alsace, France, identified by morphological criteria and using MALDI-TOF MS, were tested by PCR to detect tick-associated bacteria and protozoan parasites. Seventy percent (35/50) of ticks contained at least one microorganism; 26% (9/35) contained two or more species. Several human pathogens Continues →

Metamorphoses of Lyme disease spirochetes: phenomenon of Borrelia persisters

Parasites & Vectors 2019 12:237 Natalie Rudenko; Maryna Golovchenko; Katerina Kybicova and Marie Vancova Published May 16, 2019 Abstract The survival of spirochetes from the Borrelia burgdorferi (sensu lato) complex in a hostile environment is achieved by the regulation of differential gene expression in response to changes in temperature, salts, nutrient content, acidity fluctuation, multiple host or vector dependent factors, and leads to the formation of dormant subpopulations of Continues →

Oshawa, ON: Lyme Disease: A silent epidemic

Posted on May 14, 2019 by oshawaexpress in IN THE SPOTLIGHT, THE FOURTH ESTATE By Chris Jones/The Oshawa Express With Lyme Disease Awareness Month now in full swing, Linda Lowery hopes awareness regarding the disease will spread. Lyme disease is a bacterial illness that affects people and animals. It spreads by the bite of an infected tick. However, according to Lowery there is so much more Continues →

Microbiome analysis of Ixodes scapularis ticks from New York and Connecticut.

Ahead of print abstract…April 15, 2019 Abstract We employed high throughput sequencing to survey the microbiomes of Ixodes scapularis collected in New York and Connecticut. We examined 197 individual I. scapularis adults and pools from 132 adults and 197 nymphs. We detected Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto in 56.3% of individual ticks, Anaplasma phagocytophilum in 10.6%, Borrelia miyamotoi in 5%, Babesia Continues →

Three-antibiotic cocktail clears ‘persister’ Lyme bacteria in mouse study

April 23rd, 2019 A new study from researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that a slow-growing variant form of Lyme bacteria caused severe symptoms in a mouse model. The slow-growing variant form of Lyme bacteria, according to the researchers, may account for the persistent symptoms seen in ten to twenty percent of Lyme patients that Continues →

Tick-borne pathogen detection in midgut and salivary glands of adult Ixodes ricinus

Lejal et al. Parasites Vectors (2019) 12:152 https://doi.org/10.1186/s13071-019-3418-7 Abstract Background: The tick midgut and salivary glands represent the primary organs for pathogen acquisition and trans‑ mission, respectively. Specifcally, the midgut is the frst organ to have contact with pathogens during the blood meal uptake, while salivary glands along with their secretions play a crucial role in pathogen transmission to the Continues →

The Scientist – Opinion: The “Money Culture” in Academic Biomedical Research

[CanLyme Note: This for profit money drive takes medical research away from cure to ‘a drug for every symptom’. In Canada, relative to Lyme disease, the private Association of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Disease of Canada (AMMI), is an extension of the ‘do not cure’ medical money machine. They offer opinion and poorly designed research to support the ‘do not treat Continues →

Bartonella henselae Bloodstream Infection in a Boy With Pediatric Acute-Onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome

[CanLyme Note: Bartonella bacteria can be transmitted by ticks, cat scratches, dog saliva, etc.] Published in the Jounral of Central Nervous System Disease, March 18th, Edward B Breitshwerdt et al Abstract Background: With the advent of more sensitive culture and molecular diagnostic testing modalities, Bartonella spp. infections have been documented in blood and/or cerebrospinal fluid specimens from patients with diverse neurological symptoms. Pediatric Continues →

Presence of Babesia odocoilei and Borrelia burgdorferi Sensu Stricto in a Tick and Dual Parasitism of Amblyomma inornatum and Ixodes scapularis on a Bird in Canada

John D. Scott, Kerry L. Clark  and Lance A. Durden  published 20 March 2019 Abstract: Wild birds transport ticks into Canada that harbor a diversity of zoonotic pathogens. However, medical practitioners often question how these zoonotic pathogens are present in their locality. In this study, we provide the first report of an Amblyomma inornatum tick cofeeding with a blacklegged tick, Continues →

Lyme disease study raises possibility of mother-to-baby transmission

Andrew Rankin (arankin@herald.ca)  May 15th, 2019 A scientist who co-authored a recent Public Health Agency of Canada study on the impact of Lyme disease during pregnancy says the illness can have fatal consequences for a developing fetus if the mother goes untreated. “Miscarriage, newborn death, and newborns with respiratory problems or jaundice have been found to occur,” said American epidemiologist Alison Continues →