Lyme Disease in Humans.

Lyme Disease in Humans. Curr Issues Mol Biol. 2020 Dec 11;42:333-384 Authors: Radolf- JD, Strle K, Lemieux JE, Strle F Abstract Lyme disease (Lyme borreliosis) is a tick-borne, zoonosis of adults and children caused by genospecies of the Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato complex. The ailment, widespread throughout the Northern Hemisphere, continues to increase globally due to multiple environmental factors, coupled with increased incursion of humans into habitats that harbor the spirochete. B. burgdorferi sensu lato is transmitted by ticks from the Ixodes ricinus complex. In North America, B. burgdorferi causes nearly all infections; in Europe, B. afzelii and B. garinii are most associated with human disease. The spirochete's unusual fragmented genome encodes a plethora of differentially expressed outer surface lipoproteins that play a seminal role in the bacterium's ability to sustain itself within its enzootic cycle and cause disease when transmitted to its incidental human host. Tissue damage and symptomatology (i.e., clinical manifestations) result from the inflammatory response elicited by the bacterium and its constituents. The deposition of spirochetes into human dermal tissue generates a local inflammatory response that manifests as erythema migrans (EM), the hallmark skin lesion. If treated appropriately and early, the prognosis is excellent. However, in untreated patients, the disease may present with a wide range of clinical...
Source: Current Issues in Molecular Biology - Category: Molecular Biology Authors: Tags: Curr Issues Mol Biol Source Type: research