Defining Protective and Disease-Reducing Immunity to Borrelia burgdorferi Infection
Abstract
Infections with Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb) cause persistent infections in many mammalian species, yet these species have an intact immune system. It can be concluded that Bb has ways to evade or even suppress the immune system in order to achieve persistence. Indeed, our previous work showed that Bb infection suppresses the development of fully functional immune responses. The changes that Bb induces to the immune system might be driving Lyme disease symptoms in at least some patients. Understanding what aspects of the immune system might not be fully functional during Bb infection would help to better manage and treat the disease, and it would help develop therapies aimed to increase immune system functions. Identifying the changes may also lead to the development of biomarkers that could help with the diagnosis of Lyme disease. This proposal seeks to assess the function of antibodies in Bb-infected mice and in human patients, testing our hypothesis that the IgG antibodies induced to Bb infection are not fully functional. Specifically, we propose to conduct studies to determine whether sugar site-chains on the antibody molecule are changed during Bb infection, and whether those changes decrease the ability of antibodies to fulfill their functions. Furthermore, we aim to determine whether changes in human Lyme disease patient’s IgG correlate with the presence of ongoing disease symptoms in patients even after antibiotic treatment. The proposal therefore seeks to address multiple areas research directly relevant for the Fiscal Year 2017 Tick-Borne Disease Research Program: Bb persistence, host-pathogen interaction, and pathogenesis of Lyme disease. Expected outcomes of our studies would help identify the analysis of carbohydrate site changes as potential biomarker for patients at risk of developing Post Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome (PTLDS), and for those that may benefit from treatment with intravenous IgG (IVIG).
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Oct 29, 2018
- Source ID
- W81XWH1810611
Entities
People
- Nicole Baumgarth
Organizations
- United States Army
- University of California, Davis