2001 Lyme borreliosis in rhesus macaques-effects of corticosteroids on spirochetal load and isotype switching of anti-borrelia burgdorferi antibody

Lyme borreliosis in rhesus macaques: chronic Ld.
Date: 11/30/2001 6:31:18 PM Eastern Standard Time

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Lyme borreliosis in rhesus macaques: effects of corticosteroids on spirochetal load and isotype switching of anti-borrelia burgdorferi antibody.
Clin Diagn Lab Immunol 2001 Mar;8(2):225-32   (ISSN: 1071-412X)
Pachner AR; Amemiya K; Bartlett M; Schaefer H; Reddy K; Zhang WF [Find other articles
with these Authors]
Department of Neurosciences, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-New Jersey Medical School, 185 S. Orange St., Newark, NJ 07103, USA. pachner@umdnj.edu.

Experimental Borrelia burgdorferi infection of rhesus monkeys is an excellent model of Lyme disease and closely parallels the infection in humans. Little is known about the interaction of host immunity with the spirochete in patients with chronic infection.  We hypothesized that rapid development of anti-B. burgdorferi antibody in  immunocompetent nonhuman primates (NHPs) is the major determinant of the reduction of the spirochetal load in Lyme borreliosis. This hypothesis was tested by measurement of the spirochetal load by PCR in association with characterization of the anti-B. burgdorferi humoral immune response in immunocompetent NHPs versus that in corticosteroid-treated NHPs. Although anti-B. burgdorferi immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibody was effectively inhibited in dexamethason (Dex)-treated NHPs, anti-B. burgdorferi IgM antibody levels continued to rise after the first month and reached levels in excess of IgM levels in immunocompetent NHPs. This vigorous production of anti-B. burgdorferi IgM antibodies was also studied in vitro by measurement of antibody produced by B. burgdorferi-stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells.
Despite these high IgM antispirochetal antibodies in Dex-treated NHPs, spirochetal loads were much higher in these animals. These data indicate that Dex treatment results in interference with isotype switching in this model and provide evidence that anti-B. burgdorferi IgG antibody is much more effective than IgM antibody in decreasing the spirochetal load in infected animals.


Major Subject Heading(s) Minor Subject Heading(s) CAS Registry / EC Numbers
Borrelia burgdorferi [immunology]
Dexamethasone [pharmacology]
Glucocorticoids, Synthetic [pharmacology]
Immunoglobulin Class Switching [immunology]
Lyme Neuroborreliosis [immunology]
Find other articles with similar Subjects.
Antibodies, Bacterial [blood] [cerebrospinal fluid]
Antibody Formation [immunology]
Disease Models, Animal
IgG [blood] [cerebrospinal fluid]
IgM [blood] [cerebrospinal fluid]
Immunoglobulin Class Switching [drug effects]
Immunosuppression
Macaca mulatta
0 (Antibodies, Bacterial)
0 (Glucocorticoids, Synthetic)
0 (IgG)
0 (IgM)
50-02-2 (Dexamethasone)

Indexing Check Tags: Animal; Female; Male
Language: English
MEDLINE Indexing Date: 200106
Publication Type: Journal Article
PreMedline Identifier: 0011238200
Unique NLM Identifier: 21137938
Journal Code: IM

Original Message: Date: 11/30/2001 6:31:18 PM Eastern Standard Tim
In a message dated 11/6/2001 11:27:54 AM Eastern Standard Time, barb writes:
Barb (she was a dear Lyme friend) offered the following as proof of Borrelia persistence.  These emails were originally posted on Actionlyme and also sent privately.