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Thursday, June 9, 2011

New UC Davis study says Lyme hides out in lymph nodes

Researchers at the University of California, Davis, have found that Lyme bacteria "have developed a novel strategy for subverting the immune response of the animals they infect." Their study appears on-line in the journal Public Library of Science Biology. 

Lyme disease bacteria take cover in lymph nodes, study finds 

June 8, 2011
 
The bacteria that cause Lyme disease, one of the most important emerging diseases in the United States, appear to hide out in the lymph nodes, triggering a significant immune response, but one that is not strong enough to rout the infection, report researchers at the University of California, Davis.

Results from this groundbreaking study involving mice may explain why some people experience repeated infections of Lyme disease. The study appears online in the journal Public Library of Science Biology.

“Our findings suggest for the first time that Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacteria that cause Lyme disease in people, dogs and wildlife, have developed a novel strategy for subverting the immune response of the animals they infect,” said Professor Nicole Baumgarth, an authority on immune responses at the UC Davis Center for Comparative Medicine.

“At first it seems counter-intuitive that an infectious organism would choose to migrate to the lymph nodes where it would automatically trigger an immune response in the host animal,” Baumgarth said.

“But B. burgdorferi have apparently struck an intricate balance that allows the bacteria to both provoke and elude the animal’s immune response.” 
 

Read entire story:

http://www.lymedisease.org/news/lyme_disease_views/lymphnodes.html


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