Dr
Zhang and colleagues from Johns Hopkins University just published an
article on combinations of antibiotics against borrelia biofilm like
microcolonies. "The two drug combination of doxycycline and cefuroxime
was unable to eradicate biofilm-like microcolonies of B. burgdorferi
persisters. However, the addition of either daunomycin or daptomycin to
the doxycycline + cefuroxime combination completely eradicated the
biofilm-like structures and produced no visible bacterial regrowth
after 7 and 21 days". This article confirms that usual drug regimens
against borrelia are unable to completely eradicate persister bacteria
(which clinicians who treat Lyme have known for years), and that a
persister drug like daptomycin is necessary to decrease regrowth of the
bacteria. The problem with using Daptomycin in clinical practice is that
drug must be administered by IV route and is very expensive. I am in
the process of evaluating the use of oral generic drugs with persister
properties in our medical practice, and the initial statistical data is
encouraging. I have been in contact with Dr Zhang, and we submitted a
grant to do a prospective study with John Hopkins on novel persister
drugs in Lyme disease. We also just received an invitation to submit our
initial data for publication, and I am in the process of reviewing the
data and statistics with Dr Phyllis Freeman, the PhD researcher at our
practice. I hope to have encouraging results for everyone in the near
future!
http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmicb.2016.00062/full
http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmicb.2016.00062/full
Lyme
disease, caused by Borrelia burgdorferi, is the most common
vector-borne disease in the United States and Europe. While the majority
of Lyme disease patients can resolve their symptoms if treated
promptly, 10-20% of patients suffer from prolonged symptoms called
post-treatment Lyme disease synd…
journal.frontiersin.org
