Persisting atypical and cystic forms of Borrelia burgdorferi and local inflammation in Lyme neuroborreliosis
Détails
Etat: Public
Version: de l'auteur⸱e
ID Serval
serval:BIB_FDE6A3C12B18
Type
Article: article d'un périodique ou d'un magazine.
Collection
Publications
Institution
Titre
Persisting atypical and cystic forms of Borrelia burgdorferi and local inflammation in Lyme neuroborreliosis
Périodique
Journal of Neuroinflammation
ISSN
1742-2094
Statut éditorial
Publié
Date de publication
2008
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Volume
5
Pages
40
Langue
anglais
Résumé
BACKGROUND: The long latent stage seen in syphilis, followed by chronic central nervous system infection and inflammation, can be explained by the persistence of atypical cystic and granular forms of Treponema pallidum. We investigated whether a similar situation may occur in Lyme neuroborreliosis. METHOD: Atypical forms of Borrelia burgdorferi spirochetes were induced exposing cultures of Borrelia burgdorferi (strains B31 and ADB1) to such unfavorable conditions as osmotic and heat shock, and exposure to the binding agents Thioflavin S and Congo red. We also analyzed whether these forms may be induced in vitro, following infection of primary chicken and rat neurons, as well as rat and human astrocytes. We further analyzed whether atypical forms similar to those induced in vitro may also occur in vivo, in brains of three patients with Lyme neuroborreliosis. We used immunohistochemical methods to detect evidence of neuroinflammation in the form of reactive microglia and astrocytes. RESULTS: Under these conditions we observed atypical cystic, rolled and granular forms of these spirochetes. We characterized these abnormal forms by histochemical, immunohistochemical, dark field and atomic force microscopy (AFM) methods. The atypical and cystic forms found in the brains of three patients with neuropathologically confirmed Lyme neuroborreliosis were identical to those induced in vitro. We also observed nuclear fragmentation of the infected astrocytes using the TUNEL method. Abundant HLA-DR positive microglia and GFAP positive reactive astrocytes were present in the cerebral cortex. CONCLUSION: The results indicate that atypical extra- and intracellular pleomorphic and cystic forms of Borrelia burgdorferi and local neuroinflammation occur in the brain in chronic Lyme neuroborreliosis. The persistence of these more resistant spirochete forms, and their intracellular location in neurons and glial cells, may explain the long latent stage and persistence of Borrelia infection. The results also suggest that Borrelia burgdorferi may induce cellular dysfunction and apoptosis. The detection and recognition of atypical, cystic and granular forms in infected tissues is essential for the diagnosis and the treatment as they can occur in the absence of the typical spiral Borrelia form.
Mots-clé
Aged Aged, 80 and over Animals Astrocytes, cytology, metabolism, microbiology Borrelia burgdorferi, immunology, physiology, ultrastructure Brain, anatomy & histology, cytology, metabolism, microbiology Cells, Cultured Chick Embryo Coloring Agents, metabolism Congo Red, metabolism Fluorescent Dyes, metabolism Humans In Situ Nick-End Labeling Inflammation, immunology, microbiology Lyme Neuroborreliosis, immunology, microbiology Microscopy, Atomic Force Neurons, cytology, metabolism, microbiology Rats Thiazoles
Pubmed
Web of science
Open Access
Oui
Création de la notice
30/01/2009 11:13
Dernière modification de la notice
20/08/2019 17:28