Jul

19

Essentially the following atrophic and sclerosing (sclerodermatous) disorders can be included:

Lichen sclerosus et atrophicus (LSA)
Morphea
Scleroderma with generalized plaque lesions
Linear scleroderma
Atrophoderma profundum (Pierini-Pasini)
Parry-Romberg progressive facial hemiatrophy
Shulman’s syndrome (Eosinophilic fasciitis)
Buschke disease.

Lyme borreliosis (LB) is a multisystemic infectious disease involving the skin, joints, nervous system, heart, and eyes. Today at least three subtypes pathogenic for humans have been identified: Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto, Borrelia garini, Borrelia afzelii. Different genospecies strains of Borrelia have been associated with different clinical manifestations. LB is classically described as having three clinical stages or, similarly to syphilis, an early phase and a late one. The early infection corresponds to the first stage, the late infection includes the second and the third stages. LB skin manifestations could be divided into five classes. Erythema migrans, lymphadenosis benigna cutis, and acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans are proven skin manifestations of LB. Lichen sclerosus et athrophicus, morphea, scleroderma, scleredema Buschke, atrophodermia of Pierini and Pasini, Parry-Romberg progressive facial hemiatrophy, and Shulman fasciitis are controversial LB manifestations. Granuloma annulare, atypical persistent pityriasis rosea, and pityriasis lichenoides are skin lesions occasionally related to LB. Urticaria, erythema nodosum, and papular acrodermatitis (Giannotti Crosti disease) are reactive LB skin manifestations. Nodular panniculitis (Pfeifer-Weber-Christian), B-cell cutaneous lymphoma, and juvenile chronic myeloid leukemia are exceptional skin manifestations of LB.

Probably Morphea can be caused sometimes by Borrelia afzelii.

From Here

Jul

17

Borrelia Burgdorferi interactions with Collagen. From Here

Jul

17

The use of local isolates in Western blots improves serological diagnosis of Lyme disease in Scotland.Mavin S, Milner RM, Evans R, Chatterton JM, Joss AW, Ho-Yen DO.
Microbiology Department, Raigmore Hospital, Old Perth Road, Inverness IV2 3UJ, UK. microbiology@haht.scot.nhs.uk

Nine Scottish Borrelia burgdorferi isolates were investigated in IgG Western blot tests. Sera previously found to be positive and negative when tested by routine Western blots prepared from reference strain B. burgdorferi sensu stricto antigen had different outcomes with these isolates. Two isolates, E5 (Borrelia afzelii) and G4 (B. burgdorferi sensu stricto) performed well, reproducing Western blot-positive results in 90 and 95% of tests, respectively. When antigens from both isolates were incorporated into a single IgG Western blot, the results of a panel of sera were improved when compared to the routine reference strain IgG Western blot. All of the sera positive by the routine Western blot remained positive using the Scottish isolate antigen mix. Twenty-three of the 25 negative sera remained negative and two produced an equivocal result. Of the 15 samples that tested IgG Western blot equivocal with the B. burgdorferi sensu stricto reference strain, 11 (73%) became weak or strong positive when tested with the B. afzelii/B. burgdorferi sensu stricto antigen mix (chi(2)=14.35, Yates’ correction, P<0.001). In seven of these, a clinical picture of Lyme disease was consistent with the new results. The use of Scottish strains of B. afzelii and B. burgdorferi sensu stricto to provide antigen for the IgG Western blot improves the diagnosis of Lyme disease for patients in Scotland.

Jul

16

Cabello FC, Godfrey HP, Newman SA.
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, New York Medical College, Valhalla, NY 10595, USA.

Borrelia burgdorferi, the tick-transmitted etiologic agent of Lyme borreliosis, can colonize and persist in multiple tissue sites despite vigorous host immune responses. The extracellular matrix appears to provide a protective niche for the spirochete. Recent studies in mice suggest that B. burgdorferi interacts in various ways with collagen and its associated molecules, exploiting molecular and structural features to establish microcolonial refugia. Better knowledge of the genetic and structural bases for these interactions of B. burgdorferi with the extracellular matrix will be required before an understanding of the persistence of B. burgdorferi in the tissues and development of chronic infections can be achieved.

Jul

10

Borreliosis news from the BBC

Jul

9

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July 2007
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