Xenodiagnosis of Lyme Disease

Ixodes scapularis ticks are an important vector for at least six tick-borne human pathogens, including the predominant North American Lyme disease spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi. The ability for these ticks to survive in nature is credited, in part, to their ability to feed on a variety of hosts without excessive activation of the proinflammatory branch of the vertebrate immune system. While the ability for nymphal ticks to feed on a variety of hosts has been well-documented, the host-parasite interactions between larval I. scapularis and different vertebrate hosts is relatively unexplored. In our clinical trial, patients with prior Lyme disease who had completed antibiotic therapy were exposed to 25-30 laboratory-reared larval ticks. Skin biopsies were taken before tick placement and... (for more see dbGaP study page.)

肩突硬蜱（Ixodes scapularis）是至少6种人类蜱传病原体的重要传播媒介，其中包括北美地区主流的莱姆病致病螺旋体伯氏疏螺旋体（Borrelia burgdorferi）。该类蜱虫在自然环境中的存活能力，部分源自其可在多种宿主身上吸血且不会过度激活脊椎动物免疫系统的促炎分支。尽管若蜱的多宿主吸血能力已被充分证实，但肩突硬蜱幼蜱与不同脊椎动物宿主间的宿主-寄生虫互作机制仍相对未被探索。在本临床试验中，既往罹患莱姆病且已完成抗生素治疗的受试者被暴露于25至30只实验室饲养的幼蜱。研究人员在蜱虫放置前采集了皮肤活检样本……（更多详情请参见dbGaP研究页面）