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The data and information presented in this web site are presented in good faith and believed to be accurate. Any and all liability for the content or any omissions including any inaccuracies, errors, or misstatements in such data or information is expressly disclaimed. The web site is compiled for the sole purpose of informing community members of resources and information pertaining to Lyme Borreliosis Disease and its coinfections.
The Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation, Directors and members are not liable for any direct or indirect damages or any damages whatsoever resulting from loss of use, data or profits, whether in an action of contract, negligence or other tortious action arising out of or in connection with the use or performance of information available from this website.
Consult a qualified Lyme ( Borreliosis ) Disease literate doctor for medical advice if Lyme Disease is suspect.
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Does the bolded statement in the below paragraph not support what lyme patients and doctors have been saying all along...the infection is still active and that 'post lyme syndrome' is a wrong and misleading description? Below that read the announcement information.
Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis. 2004 Jul 8 [Epub ahead of print]
Pre-treatment and post-treatment assessment of the C(6) test in patients with persistent symptoms and a history of Lyme borreliosis.
Fleming RV, Marques AR, Klempner MS, Schmid CH, Dally LG, Martin DS, Philipp MT.
Department of Medicine, Boston University Medical Center, 650 Albany Street, Room 620, 02118, Boston, MA, USA.
It was recently reported that antibody to C(6), a peptide that reproduces an invariable region of the VlsE lipoprotein of Borrelia burgdorferi, declined in titer by a factor of four or more in a significant proportion of patients after successful antibiotic treatment of acute localized or disseminated Lyme borreliosis. The present study evaluated the C(6) test as a predictor of therapy outcome in a population of patients with post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome. The serum specimens tested were from patients with well-documented, previously treated Lyme borreliosis who had persistent musculoskeletal or neurocognitive symptoms. All of the patients had participated in a recent double-blind, placebo-controlled antibiotic trial in which serum samples were collected at baseline and 6 months thereafter, i.show $132#e. 3 months following treatment termination. In this patient population no correlation was found between a decline of C(6) antibody titer of any magnitude and treatment or clinical outcome. Antibodies to C(6) persisted in these patients with post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome following treatment, albeit at a markedly lower prevalence and titer than in untreated patients with acute disseminated Lyme disease. The results indicate that C(6) antibody cannot be used to assess treatment outcome or the presence of active infection in this population.
PMID: 15243815 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher
This below was first announced at the 13th International Lyme Conference, March 2000.
Boston Biomedica, Inc. Announces New Lyme Disease Test
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A recent discovery has resulted in a promising new Lyme disease test. The C6 Lyme Peptide ELISA (C6 LPE), recently made available by BBI Clinical Laboratories of New Britain, CT identifies antibodies to a newly discovered consistent surface protein that is present on every known strain of the Lyme disease bacteria, Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb).
Researchers believe part of the reason Bb is able to evade immune system response is its ability to use "antigenic variation." This process allows the bacteria to change its genetic composition to evade an immune system response from its hosts. One study (Zhang, Norris,) found that the organisms' Variable major proteins sequence (VMP) changes on days 4,7,14,21,28, and 7 and 12 months post infection of mammalian hosts.
In a significant scientific breakthrough, scientists recently discovered 6 surface proteins on the bacteria that remain constant. Scientists call these "invariable regions" (IR), which are termed IR1-6. One IR, IR6 is found in all strains of the Lyme disease pathogen and induces a strong immune response in infected patients. The C6 LPE detects antibodies to the IR6 in infected patients.
"I am very excited. This test may identify many cases of Lyme that current tests often miss," said Lyme Disease Foundation chair Karen Vanderhoof-Forschner. "It may have the potential to become the standard test for Lyme disease."
Diagnosis of Lyme disease has been hampered by tests that have not been standardized, are not reproducible, and are neither sensitive nor specific for this often difficult to diagnose tickborne disease. The recent Lyme disease vaccine, which has been given to thousands of people over the past year makes current tests for Lyme disease virtually useless. The C6 LPE has several features that ensure its accuracy and reproducibility in a wide range of patients.
Such patients include:
a. Patients that have received the Lyme disease vaccine. Unlike the ELISA and Western blot, the C6 LPE will not cross-react with antibodies to the active ingredient of the vaccine, Outer surface protein A (OspA).
b. Ability to detect antibodies to all US and European strains of B. burgdorferi, because this protein is common to all presently known strains of the bacteria.
c. Patients with autoimmune diseases (e.g. non-Lyme arthritis, lupus erythematosis), other spirochetal diseases (syphilis, relapsing fever), neurologic conditions, and infectious diseases. Because the C6 LPE is highly specific, people with autoimmune diseases do not yield false positive results as they often do with current Lyme tests.
d. Since IR6 antibodies begin to be produced in early infection and are produced throughout the course of infection, the C6LPE is more sensitive for diagnosing all stages of Lyme disease, including those patients with late stage Lyme disease.
BBI Clinical Laboratories offers a comprehensive range of carefully validated tests for tickborne pathogens including confirmatory tests for Lyme disease, tests for human ehrlichiosis, and another tickborne pathogen, Babesia microti.
BBI Clinical Laboratories specializes in testing for a broad range of infectious agents including HIV and Hepatitis viruses, offering services in itís Immunology, Microbiology, and Molecular Diagnostics laboratories to physicians, hospitals, clinics, and other reference laboratories.
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