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

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 →

Study of pediatric patients shows two-tier testing results cannot rule out Lyme borreliosis.

Two-Tier Lyme Disease Serology Test Results Can Vary According to the Specific First-Tier Test Used Published: February 22, 2019 Abstract Background Variability in 2-tier Lyme disease test results according to the specific first-tier enzyme immunoassay (EIA) in children has not been examined rigorously. In this study, we compared paired results of clinical 2-tier Lyme disease tests to those of the Continues →

CDC Endorsement of Single Dose Antibiotic for Lyme Disease Prevention Challenged

Advocates claim policy harms patients and violates HHS standards for information quality Washington, DC – WEBWIRE – Tuesday, February 19, 2019 Advocates for Lyme disease patients are calling on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to withdraw its endorsement of single-dose antibiotic prophylaxis for prevention of Lyme disease after a tick bite. A key limitation of the recommendation Continues →

Latest research shows Canada’s decision to fund only one large national Lyme research conglomerate goes against creation of new ideas.

[CanLyme Note: Even worse is that the 4 million tax payer dollars given to the conglomerate, Canadian Lyme Disease Research Network (CLyDRN), is now controlled by members of the anti-science/ethics private group the Association of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Disease of Canada (AMMI) which is the puppet arm of the highly controversial Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA). Most of the Continues →

Lyme advocates say Canada offers “toxic tokenism” to patients

The Canadian government recently announced new investment in Lyme disease research. However, Canadian Lyme advocates fear that the patient voice will be excluded from the decision-making process. In the following article, the Canadian Lyme Consortium (CLC)–made up of advocates, patients, researchers and practitioners–offers background and context. By Vett Lloyd, PhD; Liz Zubek, MD, CCFP FCFP; Sue Faber and Jennifer Kravis, co-founders, LymeHope; Janet Sperling, CanLyme; Linda Kelso, Continues →

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 →