| 1. |
- Larsson, Christer, 1975-, et al.
(författare)
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First Record of Lyme Disease Borrelia in the Arctic
- 2007
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Ingår i: Vector Borne and Zoonotic Diseases. - : Mary Ann Liebert Inc. - 1530-3667 .- 1557-7759. ; 7:3, s. 453-456
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The epidemiology and ecology of Lyme disease is very complex, and its reported geographical distribution is constantly increasing. Furthermore, the involvement of birds in long distance dispersal and their role as reservoir hosts is now well established. In this study, we have shown that sea birds in the Arctic region of Norway carry Ixodes uriae ticks infected with Lyme disease Borrelia garinii spirochetes. Interestingly, DNA sequencing showed that these isolates are closely related to B. garinii previously isolated from birds, as well as from clinical specimens in northern Europe.
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| 2. |
- Larsson, Christer, 1975-, et al.
(författare)
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Persistent brain infection and disease reactivation in relapsing fever borreliosis
- 2006
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Ingår i: Microbes and infection. - : Elsevier. - 1286-4579 .- 1769-714X. ; 8:8, s. 2213-2219
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Relapsing fever, an infection caused by Borrelia spirochetes, is generally considered a transient, self-limiting disease in humans. The present study reveals that murine infection by Borrelia duttonii can be reactivated after an extended time as a silent infection in the brain, with no bacteria appearing in the blood and spirochete load comparable to the numbers in an infected tick. The host cerebral gene expression pattern is indistinguishable from that of uninfected animals, indicating that persistent bacteria are not recognized by the immune system nor cause noticeable tissue damage. Silent infection can be reactivated by immunosuppression, inducing spirochetemia comparable to that of initial densities. B. duttonii has never been found in any host except man and the tick vector. We therefore propose the brain to be a possible natural reservoir of the spirochete. The view of relapsing fever as an acute disease should be extended to include in some cases prolonged persistence, a feature characteristic of the related spirochetal infections Lyme disease and syphilis.
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| 3. |
- Guo, Betty P, et al.
(författare)
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Relapsing fever Borrelia binds to neolacto glycans and mediates rosetting of human erythrocytes.
- 2009
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. - : Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. - 1091-6490 .- 0027-8424. ; 106:46, s. 19280-5
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A hallmark of acute relapsing fever borreliosis is severe bacteremia. Some Borrelia species, such as B. duttonii and B. crocidurae, associate with erythrocytes and induce aggregation recognized as erythrocyte rosetting. Erythrocyte rosettes contribute to disease severity by increased tissue invasiveness (such as invasion of CNS and encephalitis), hemorrhaging, and reduced blood flow in affected microcapillaries. Here we report that relapsing fever Borrelia binds to neolacto (Galbeta4GlcNAcbeta3Galbeta4Glcbeta1)-carrying glycoconjugates that are present on human erythrocytes. This interaction is of low affinity but is compensated for by the multivalency of neo-lacto-oligosaccharides on the erythrocyte cell surface. Hence, the protein-carbohydrate interaction is dependent on multivalent neolacto-glycans to mediate binding.
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| 4. |
- Waldenström, Jonas, et al.
(författare)
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Migrating birds and tickborne encephalitis virus
- 2007
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Ingår i: Emerging Infectious Diseases. - : Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). - 1080-6040 .- 1080-6059. ; 13:8, s. 1215-8
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- During spring and autumn 2001, we screened 13,260 migrating birds at Ottenby Bird Observatory, Sweden, and found 3.4% were infested with ticks. Four birds, each a different passerine species, carried tickborne encephalitis virus (TBEV)-infected ticks (Ixodes ricinus). Migrating birds may play a role in the geographic dispersal of TBEV-infected ticks.
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| 5. |
- Sadziene, Ariadna, et al.
(författare)
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A bactericidal antibody to Borrelia burgdorferi is directed against a variable region of the OspB protein
- 1994
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Ingår i: Infection and Immunity. - : American Society for Microbiology (ASM). - 0019-9567 .- 1098-5522. ; 62:5, s. 2037-2045
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Borrelia burgdorferi, an agent of Lyme disease, is killed by some monoclonal antibodies in the absence of complement or phagocytes. In the present study, the bactericidal action of monoclonal antibodies against B. burgdorferi and B. hermsii, a cause of relapsing fever, was further characterized. H6831, an antibody recognizing the OspB proteins of some B. burgdorferi strains, and H4825, an antibody specific for one serotype of B. hermsii, were purified, and Fab fragments of the antibodies were prepared. In time-kill studies, more than 99.9% of strain B31 B. burgdorferi cells were killed after 30 min of exposure to H6831 Fab fragments. The MBC of the Fab fragments was 10 micrograms/ml. Electron microscopy revealed that the bactericidal Fab fragments produced numerous blebs and cell lysis of the borrelias for which they were specific. To identify the epitope for H6831, the OspB sequences of H6831-susceptible and -resistant strains and mutants were determined. The deduced OspB proteins of all H6831-resistant strains and mutants differed from the strain B31 OspB at residue 253. Murine antisera raised against a 21-mer synthetic peptide representing the region around residue 253 were specific for strain B31 by Western blot (immunoblot) and growth inhibition assays. Furthermore, the antipeptide serum inhibited the binding of H6831 to whole borrelias. These findings indicated that the linear component of the bactericidal antibody's epitope was located at or near residue 253.
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
- Good, James A. D., 1985-, et al.
(författare)
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Thiazolino 2-Pyridone Amide Inhibitors of Chlamydia trachomatis Infectivity
- 2016
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Ingår i: Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 0022-2623 .- 1520-4804. ; 59:5, s. 2094-2108
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The bacterial pathogen Chlamydia trachomatis is a global health burden currently treated with broad-spectrum antibiotics which disrupt commensal bacteria. We recently identified a compound through phenotypic screening that blocked infectivity of this intracellular pathogen without host cell toxicity (compound 1, KSK 120). Herein, we present the optimization of 1 to a class of thiazolino 2-pyridone amides that are highly efficacious (EC50 <= 100 nM) in attenuating infectivity across multiple serovars of C. trachomatis without host cell toxicity. The lead compound 21a exhibits reduced lipophilicity versus 1 and did not affect the growth or viability of representative commensal flora at 50 mu M. In microscopy studies, a highly active fluorescent analogue 37 localized inside the parasitiphorous inclusion, indicative of a specific targeting of bacterial components. In summary, we present a class of small molecules to enable the development of specific treatments for C. trachomatis.
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| 8. |
- Larsson, Christer, 1975-, et al.
(författare)
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A novel and simple method for laboratory diagnosis of relapsing Fever borreliosis.
- 2008
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Ingår i: The Open Microbiology Journal. - : Bentham Science Publishers Ltd.. - 1874-2858. ; 2, s. 10-2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Relapsing fever caused by Borrelia bacteria is often obscured by malaria and incorrectly treated. Here a novel method for diagnosis is presented. The method is cheap, simple and requires minimal laboratory material. Despite its simplicity, the method shows surprisingly high sensitivity, detecting concentrations less than 10 bacteria/ml blood.
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| 9. |
- Elfving, Karin, et al.
(författare)
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Dissemination of Spotted Fever Rickettsia Agents in Europe by Migrating Birds
- 2010
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Ingår i: PLOS ONE. - : Public Library of Science. - 1932-6203. ; 5:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Migratory birds are known to play a role as long-distance vectors for many microorganisms. To investigate whether this is true of rickettsial agents as well, we characterized tick infestation and gathered ticks from 13,260 migratory passerine birds in Sweden. A total of 1127 Ixodes spp. ticks were removed from these birds and the extracted DNA from 957 of them was available for analyses. The DNA was assayed for detection of Rickettsia spp. using real-time PCR, followed by DNA sequencing for species identification. Rickettsia spp. organisms were detected in 108 (11.3%) of the ticks. Rickettsia helvetica, a spotted fever rickettsia associated with human infections, was predominant among the PCR-positive samples. In 9 (0.8%) of the ticks, the partial sequences of 17kDa and ompB genes showed the greatest similarity to Rickettsia monacensis, an etiologic agent of Mediterranean spotted fever-like illness, previously described in southern Europe as well as to the Rickettsia sp. IrITA3 strain. For 15 (1.4%) of the ticks, the 17kDa, ompB, gltA and ompA genes showed the greatest similarity to Rickettsia sp. strain Davousti, Rickettsia japonica and Rickettsia heilongjiangensis, all closely phylogenetically related, the former previously found in Amblyomma tholloni ticks in Africa and previously not detected in Ixodes spp. ticks. The infestation prevalence of ticks infected with rickettsial organisms was four times higher among ground foraging birds than among other bird species, but the two groups were equally competent in transmitting Rickettsia species. The birds did not seem to serve as reservoir hosts for Rickettsia spp., but in one case it seems likely that the bird was rickettsiemic and that the ticks had acquired the bacteria from the blood of the bird. In conclusion, migratory passerine birds host epidemiologically important vector ticks and Rickettsia species and contribute to the geographic distribution of spotted fever rickettsial agents and their diseases.
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| 10. |
- Normark, Johan, et al.
(författare)
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Maladjusted Host Immune Responses Induce Experimental Cerebral Malaria-Like Pathology in a Murine Borrelia and Plasmodium Co-Infection Model
- 2014
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Ingår i: PLOS ONE. - : PLOS ONE. - 1932-6203. ; 9:7
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In the Plasmodium infected host, a balance between pro- and anti-inflammatory responses is required to clear the parasites without inducing major host pathology. Clinical reports suggest that bacterial infection in conjunction with malaria aggravates disease and raises both mortality and morbidity in these patients. In this study, we investigated the immune responses in BALB/c mice, co-infected with Plasmodium berghei NK65 parasites and the relapsing fever bacterium Borrelia duttonii. In contrast to single infections, we identified in the co-infected mice a reduction of L-Arginine levels in the serum. It indicated diminished bioavailability of NO, which argued for a dysfunctional endothelium. Consistent with this, we observed increased sequestration of CD8+ cells in the brain as well over expression of ICAM-1 and VCAM by brain endothelial cells. Co-infected mice further showed an increased inflammatory response through IL-1 beta and TNF-alpha, as well as inability to down regulate the same through IL-10. In addition we found loss of synchronicity of pro- and anti-inflammatory signals seen in dendritic cells and macrophages, as well as increased numbers of regulatory T-cells. Our study shows that a situation mimicking experimental cerebral malaria (ECM) is induced in co-infected mice due to loss of timing and control over regulatory mechanisms in antigen presenting cells.
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