Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
3.6
3.6
Journals
Diagnostics
Special Issues
Lyme Disease: Companion Diagnostics and Precision Medicine
share announcement

Lyme Disease: Companion Diagnostics and Precision Medicine

A special issue of Diagnostics (ISSN 2075-4418). This special issue belongs to the section "Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2022) | Viewed by 10868

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Raphael B. Stricker

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Union Square Medical Associates, San Francisco, CA, USA
Interests: tickborne diseases; immunodeficiency diseases; immunological infertility
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Lyme disease, caused by the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi, has become a worldwide pandemic. The latest report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that 476,000 people are diagnosed with Lyme disease each year in the USA alone, and other studies show that as many as two-thirds of individuals infected with B. burgdorferi will fail conventional 40-year-old antibiotic therapy. Recent reports have highlighted the diversity and complexity of Lyme disease and related tick-borne coinfections, including B. burgdorferi and relapsing fever Borrelia species, Babesia, Anaplasma, Ehrlichia, Bartonella, Rickettsia, and Powassan virus. Consequently, improved companion diagnostic tests and novel treatment approaches for Lyme disease and related tick-borne coinfections are urgently needed to combat the pandemic. In particular, the principles of precision medicine using accurate diagnostic testing and effective “designer drug” treatment need to be applied to tick-borne diseases. This Special Issue of Diagnostics examines the use of Big Data registries, companion diagnostics, and precision medicine that will revolutionize the diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease and related tick-borne coinfections in the coming years.

Dr. Raphael B. Stricker
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Diagnostics is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Lyme disease
  • Borrelia burgdorferi
  • tick-borne coinfections
  • persistent infection
  • companion diagnostics
  • precision medicine

Published Papers (2 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

10 pages, 438 KiB  
Article
Immunoreactivity of Polish Lyme Disease Patient Sera to Specific Borrelia Antigens—Part 1
by Iwona Wojciechowska-Koszko, Magdalena Mnichowska-Polanowska, Paweł Kwiatkowski, Paulina Roszkowska, Monika Sienkiewicz and Barbara Dołęgowska
Diagnostics 2021, 11(11), 2157; https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics11112157 - 21 Nov 2021
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2385
Abstract
The diverse clinical picture and the non-specificity of symptoms in Lyme disease (LD) require the implementation of effective diagnostics, which should take into account the heterogeneity of Borrelia antigens. According to available guidelines, laboratories should use a two-tier serological diagnosis based on the [...] Read more.
The diverse clinical picture and the non-specificity of symptoms in Lyme disease (LD) require the implementation of effective diagnostics, which should take into account the heterogeneity of Borrelia antigens. According to available guidelines, laboratories should use a two-tier serological diagnosis based on the enzyme-linked immunosorbent (ELISA) screening test and confirmation of the immunoblot (IB). The aim of the study was to investigate the immunoreactivity of LD patient sera to Borrelia antigens and to attempt to identify the genospecies responsible for LD using an ELISA–IB assay combination. Eighty patients with suspected LD and 22 healthy people participated in the study. All samples were tested with ELISA and IB assays in both IgM and IgG antibodies. In the case of the ELISA assay, more positive results were obtained in the IgM class than in the IgG class. In the case of the IB assay, positive results dominated in the IgG class. Positive results obtained in the IB assay most often showed IgM antibodies against the OspC and flagellin antigens, whereas the IgG antibodies were against VlsE, BmpA, OspC, p41, and p83 antigens. The IB assay is an important part of LD serodiagnosis and should be mandatory in diagnostic laboratories. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Lyme Disease: Companion Diagnostics and Precision Medicine)
►▼ Show Figures

Graphical abstract

11 pages, 583 KiB  
Article
Detection of Babesia odocoilei in Humans with Babesiosis Symptoms
by John D. Scott, Muhammad S. Sajid, Emily L. Pascoe and Janet E. Foley
Diagnostics 2021, 11(6), 947; https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics11060947 - 25 May 2021
Cited by 20 | Viewed by 7207
Abstract
Human babesiosis is a life-threatening infectious disease that causes societal and economic impact worldwide. Several species of Babesia cause babesiosis in terrestrial vertebrates, including humans. A one-day clinic was held in Ontario, Canada, to see if a red blood cell parasite, which is [...] Read more.
Human babesiosis is a life-threatening infectious disease that causes societal and economic impact worldwide. Several species of Babesia cause babesiosis in terrestrial vertebrates, including humans. A one-day clinic was held in Ontario, Canada, to see if a red blood cell parasite, which is present in blacklegged ticks, Ixodes scapularis, is present in humans. Based on PCR testing and DNA sequencing of the 18S rRNA gene, we unveiled B. odocoilei in two of 19 participants. DNA amplicons from these two patients are almost identical matches with the type strains of B. odocoilei in GenBank. In addition, the same two human subjects had the hallmark symptoms of human babesiosis, including night sweats, chills, fevers, and profound fatigue. Based on symptoms and molecular identification, we provide substantive evidence that B. odocoilei is pathogenic to humans. Dataset reveals that B. odocoilei serologically cross-reacts with Babesia duncani. Clinicians must realize that there are more than two Babesia spp. in North America that cause human babesiosis. This discovery signifies the first report of B. odocoilei causing human babesiosis. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Lyme Disease: Companion Diagnostics and Precision Medicine)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-2
Back to TopTop