Medscape's weekly email newsletter covering Infectious Diseases had this bulletin which may help explain why some Lymies do not suffer with the arthritic symptoms.
DECORIN-BINDING PROTEINS IMPORTANT IN LYME DISEASE PATHOGENESIS The paucity of arthritis in transgenic mice deficient in decorin suggests that decorin-binding proteins on the spirochetes that cause Lyme disease play an important role in their pathogenesis, according to a report in the April issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation. Go to http://id.medscape.com/35554.rhtml === Here is the text of the abstract you'll find there =============== Decorin-Binding Proteins Important in Lyme Disease Pathogenesis ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- WESTPORT, CT (Reuters Health) Mar 28 - The paucity of arthritis in transgenic mice deficient in decorin suggests that decorin-binding proteins on the spirochetes that cause Lyme disease play an important role in their pathogenesis, according to a report in the April issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation. Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease, binds to host collagen by way of decorin adhesins - proteoglycan molecules that are ubiquitously associated with the host's collagen tissues, through its decorin-binding proteins A and B, the authors explain. Dr. Eric L. Brown from Texas A&M University System Health Science Center in Houston and colleagues used transgenic mice lacking one (Dcn(+/-)) or both (Dcn(-/-)) decorin genes to investigate the role of decorin and decorin-binding proteins in the pathology of Lyme disease. Decorin-deficient mice had consistently lower percentages of B. burgdorferi blood cultures a week after infection than did wild-type mice, the authors report, though these differences disappeared after 14 days. Similarly, significantly fewer Borrelia were recovered from the joints of Dcn(-/-) mice (47% culture-positive) than from normal mice (90% culture-positive), the report indicates. Dcn(+/-) mice had intermediate rates of joint culture-positivity (72%). Moreover, the researchers note, both the incidence and severity of arthritis were reduced in animals lacking decorin. The resistance to the development and severity of Lyme disease could be somewhat overcome by increasing the size of the spirochete inoculum, the investigators observe. Decorin deficiency had no apparent impact, however, on the humoral or cellular immune responses to the B. burgdorferi, the results indicate. "The interactions between Borrelia and decorin play a significant role in the colonization process, as is evidenced by the increased resistance in Dcn(-/-) mice to the Lyme spirochete," Dr. Brown told Reuters Health. "If the colonization process can be delayed or stopped, resolution of disease will be more rapid." "We are currently developing a second-generation Lyme vaccine based on the decorin binding protein A (DbpA) and two other Borrelia adhesins," Dr. Brown said. -- The silver-list is a moderated forum for discussion of colloidal silver. To join or quit silver-list or silver-digest send an e-mail message to: silver-list-requ...@eskimo.com -or- silver-digest-requ...@eskimo.com with the word subscribe or unsubscribe in the SUBJECT line. To post, address your message to: silver-list@eskimo.com Silver-list archive: http://escribe.com/health/thesilverlist/index.html List maintainer: Mike Devour <mdev...@eskimo.com>
