Study finds potential new treatment path for lasting Lyme disease symptoms
Fibroblast growth factor receptor inhibitors, a type of drug previously studied in the context of cancer, shows promise in reducing inflammation and cell death in brain and nerve tissue samples infected with Borrelia burgdorferi.
2024-04-18
(Press-News.org)
Tulane University researchers have identified a promising new approach to treating persistent neurological symptoms associated with Lyme disease, offering hope to patients who suffer from long-term effects of the bacterial infection, even after antibiotic treatment. Their results were published in Frontiers in Immunology.
Lyme disease, caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi and transmitted through tick bites, can lead to a range of symptoms, including those affecting the central and peripheral nervous systems. While antibiotics can effectively clear the infection in most cases, a subset of patients continues to experience symptoms such as memory loss, fatigue, and pain—a condition often referred to as post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome.
Principal investigator Geetha Parthasarathy, PhD, an assistant professor of microbiology and immunology at the Tulane National Primate Research Center, has discovered that fibroblast growth factor receptor inhibitors, a type of drug previously studied in the context of cancer, can significantly reduce inflammation and cell death in brain and nerve tissue samples infected with Borrelia burgdorferi. This discovery suggests that targeting FGFR pathways may offer an exciting new therapeutic approach to addressing persistent neuroinflammation in patients with post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome.
"Our findings open the door to new research approaches that can help us support patients suffering from the lasting effects of Lyme disease," Parthasarathy said. "By focusing on the underlying inflammation that contributes to these symptoms, we hope to develop treatments that can improve the quality of life for those affected by this debilitating condition."
Researchers treated nerve tissue with live or inactivated Borrelia burgdorferi, followed by an application of FGFR inhibitors. Study results revealed a significant reduction in both inflammatory markers and of cell death.
While further research is needed to translate these findings into clinical treatments, the study represents an important step forward in understanding and potentially managing the complex aftermath of Lyme disease.
This study was funded by the Bay Area Lyme Foundation and supported with resources from the Tulane National Primate Research Center base grant of the National Institutes of Health, P51 OD011104.
END
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2024-04-18
(MEMPHIS, Tenn. – April 18, 2024) Metabolic health (normal blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol levels, among other factors) influences the effectiveness of influenza vaccinations. Vaccination is known to be less effective in people with obesity compared to those with a healthier body mass index (BMI), but St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists have found it is not obesity itself, but instead metabolic dysfunction, which makes the difference. In a study published today in Nature Microbiology, the researchers found switching obese mice to a healthy diet before flu vaccination, but not after, completely protected ...
2024-04-18
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced $16 million in funding for four projects providing classroom training and research opportunities to train the next generation of accelerator scientists and engineers needed to deliver scientific discoveries.
U.S. global competitiveness in discovery science relies on increasingly complex charged particle accelerator systems that require world-leading expertise to develop and operate. These programs will train the next generation of scientists and engineers, providing the expertise needed ...
2024-04-18
Marine Resource Economics (MRE) is pleased to announce the 2024 winners of the journal’s Publication of Enduring Significance Award: Kenneth Ruddle, Edvard Hviding, and Robert E. Johannes for their 1992 article, “Marine Resources Management in the Context of Customary Tenure,” and Frank Asche for his 2008 contribution entitled “Farming the Sea.”
In “Marine Resources Management in the Context of Customary Tenure,” Ruddle, Hviding, and Johannes use a case study-based analysis to show how and why customary marine sea ...
2024-04-18
Health-care professionals who work with people experiencing homelessness know many of the people may also be living with a mental health disorder. University of Calgary researchers wanted to better understand how often these two things are connected, and what they found surprised them.
“We found 66-to-75 per cent of people who are experiencing homelessness have an underlying mental health condition” says Dr. Dallas Seitz, MD, PhD, a psychiatrist and clinician-researcher at the Cumming School of Medicine, and senior author of the paper. “We have always ...
2024-04-18
The 2010 Gulf of Mexico Deepwater Horizon was the largest accidental oil spill in history. With almost 100 million gallons (379 million liters) of oil combined with dispersants suggested to remain in the Gulf, it is one of the worst pollution events ever. More than a decade later, its long-term effects are still not fully understood.
In a new study, researchers from Louisiana State University and Tulane University examined the endemic Gulf of Mexico fish species that may have been most impacted by the oil spill to see how their distribution has changed over the years. To get their data, they studied museum specimens from natural ...
2024-04-18
CAMBRIDGE, MA — Have you ever felt reluctant to share ideas during a meeting because you feared judgment from senior colleagues? You’re not alone. Research has shown this pervasive issue can lead to a lack of diversity in public discourse, especially when junior members of a community don’t speak up because they feel intimidated.
Anonymous communication can alleviate that fear and empower individuals to speak their minds, but anonymity also eliminates important social context and can quickly skew too far in the other direction, leading to toxic or hateful speech.
MIT ...
2024-04-18
Animal and plant populations have been extensively studied, which has helped to understand ecosystem processes and evolutionary adaptations. However, this has not been the case with microbial populations due to the impossibility of isolating, culturing and analyzing the genetic content of the different species and their individuals in the laboratory. Therefore, although it is known that populations of microorganisms include a great diversity, this remains largely uncharacterized.
Now, a new study from the Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC) recently published in the journal Microbiome highlights the potential of marine microbial populations as indicators ...
2024-04-18
Twin studies have proven invaluable for teasing out the effects of both genetics and the environment on human biology. In a study published April 2 in Cell Reports, researchers studied pairs of twins to look at how the interplay of genetics and environment affect cognitive processing—the way that people think. They found that some cognitive abilities appear to be regulated more by environmental factors than by genetics.
“Past research has suggested that general intelligence—often referred to as intelligence quotient or IQ—has a heritability ranging from 50% to 80%,” says senior and corresponding author Xiaohong Wan of Beijing Normal University in China. ...
2024-04-18
LA JOLLA (April 18, 2024)—Salk Institute Professor Satchidananda Panda has been named a 2023 Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world’s largest general scientific society and publisher of the journal Science. Panda is among 502 new AAAS Fellows spanning 24 scientific disciplines who were nominated by their peers for their distinguished efforts to advance science. The election recognizes his contributions to the field of chronobiology, particularly for applications to obesity and human health.
“The Salk community congratulates ...
2024-04-18
A new urine test that measures 18 genes associated with prostate cancer provides higher accuracy for detecting clinically significant cancers than PSA and other existing biomarker tests, according to a study published April 18 in JAMA Oncology. The urine test, MyProstateScore 2.0 (MPS2), was shown to meaningfully reduce unnecessary prostate biopsies while providing highly accurate detection of worrisome prostate cancers, the researchers concluded.
“In nearly 800 patients with an elevated PSA level, the new test was capable of ruling out the presence of clinically significant prostate cancer with remarkable accuracy. This allows patients to avoid more burdensome and ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] Study finds potential new treatment path for lasting Lyme disease symptoms
Fibroblast growth factor receptor inhibitors, a type of drug previously studied in the context of cancer, shows promise in reducing inflammation and cell death in brain and nerve tissue samples infected with Borrelia burgdorferi.
