A new study provides evidence for what so many people complain about - that after being treated for Lyme disease with several weeks of antibiotics - they feel that they are not cured, but instead still suffer from Lyme disease. Lyme disease is caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, which is transmitted to a person during a tick bite.
However, many medical professionals deny that a person can still have Lyme disease after antibiotic treatment, and instead call the lingering symptoms post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome (PTLDS). It is thought that between 10 to 20% of persons treated with antibiotics for Lyme disease have symptoms of PTLDS.
Hah! The Tulane University researchers found that yes, the live bacteria (B. burgdorferi spirochetes) can still be there in different organs of the body even after 28 days of antibiotic treatment. They studied late Lyme disease in both treated (with antibiotics) and untreated rhesus macaques - primates in which Lyme disease has effects similar to humans. Other studies have also found that the Lyme disease bacteria can evade treatment (here and here). From Medical Xpress:
Lyme bacteria survive 28-day course of antibiotics months after infection
Bay Area Lyme Foundation, a leading sponsor of Lyme disease research in the US, today announced results of two papers published in the peer-reviewed journals PLOS ONE and American Journal of Pathology, that seem to support claims of lingering symptoms reported by many patients who have already received antibiotic treatment for the disease. Based on a single, extensive study of Lyme disease designed by Tulane University researchers, the study employed multiple methods to evaluate the presence of Borrelia burgdorferi spirochetes, the bacteria that cause Lyme disease, before and after antibiotic treatment in primates.
The data show that living B. burgdorferi spirochetes were found in ticks that fed upon the primates and in multiple organs after treatment with 28 days of oral doxycycline. The results also indicated that the immune response to the bacteria varied widely in both treated and untreated subjects. "It is apparent from these data that B. burgdorferi bacteria, which have had time to adapt to their host, have the ability to escape immune recognition, tolerate the antibiotic doxycycline and invade vital organs such as the brain and heart," said lead author Monica Embers, PhD, assistant professor of microbiology and immunology at Tulane University School of Medicine.
"In this study, we were able to observe the existence of microscopic disease and low numbers of bacteria, which would be difficult to 'see' in humans but could possibly be the cause of the variable and nonspecific symptoms that are characteristic of post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome. Although current antibiotic regimens may cure most patients who are treated early, if the infection is allowed to progress, the 28-day treatment may be insufficient, based on these findings," Embers said.
The findings also demonstrated: All subjects treated with antibiotics were found to have some level of infection 7 - 12 months post treatment. Despite testing negative by antibody tests for Lyme disease, two of 10 subjects were still infected with Lyme bacteria in heart and bladder. Lyme bacteria which persist are still viable.
To better elucidate previous animal studies demonstrating that some B. burgdorferi bacteria survive antibiotics, the study explored Lyme disease infection in rhesus macaque primates treated with antibiotics and a control group who were also infected but not treated.
In the study, ticks carrying B. burgdorferi spirochetes fed on ten primates. Four months post infection, half of the primates (five) received the antibiotic doxycycline orally for 28 days at a proportional dose to that used in human treatment...... The results show: Few subjects displayed a rash. Although all subjects were infected, only one of the 10 displayed a rash with central clearing, the classical "bulls-eye" rash. ... Organs may be infected even if antibody tests are negative...... Intact spirochetes were found in three of five treated and four of five untreated subjects based on xenodiagnosis results 12 months after the tick bite.
Immune responses to B. burgdorferi varied greatly posttreatment .... This is significant because it demonstrates that subjects infected with the same strain of B. burgdorferi may have different immune responses to the same antigen. And, because humans, like primates, are genetically diverse, it underscores that testing antibody responses may be inherently unreliable as a singular diagnostic modality for Lyme disease.
Widespread and variable microscopic disease was observed in all infected subjects, despite antibiotic treatment. Compared to uninfected subjects of the same age, infected subjects in this study (treated and untreated) demonstrated inflammation in and around the heart, in skeletal muscles, joints, and the protective sheath that covers the brain, and near peripheral nerves. Rare, but intact B. burgdorferi spirochetes were found in the tissues of both the treated and untreated subjects. In two subjects treated with doxycycline, multiple Lyme bacteria were observed in the brain tissue. [Original study.]