News Archives - Bay Area Lyme Foundation

Understanding Infection-associated Chronic Illness: How the Immune System Responds to Persistent Infection

Distinguished Speaker Series with Michal Tal, PhD

By Bay Area Lyme Foundation

Distinguished Speaker Series Transcript

“I want to leave you with hope. I think we’re going to be unstoppable because I think that these are solvable problems. These are answerable questions. I think that there are already a lot of existing tools in immunology that just need to be brought into the fight, and we can change this.”

– Michal Caspi Tal, PhD

Michal Caspi Tal: In the chronic illness world, I think that there is something about hope with a capital ‘H’ that is precious. I think it always has to be. I want to talk a little bit about what my lab is doing, where I think we could go in the future and the hope that I have for how we move forward, how we solve this, and how we change this for those who come after us. So, I’ll tell you a little bit about some of the recent things that have come out of the lab, what the lab is working on now, and where we want to go.

New Study Shows How Borrelia burgdorferi Evades the Immune System

Recently, we published a study in collaboration with Hanna Ollila’s lab where we compared people who’ve had Lyme and have had a diagnosis of Lyme versus people who’ve never had a diagnosis of Lyme. We found a genetic difference in a sweat protein that nobody—including me—had ever thought about before. We tested it against the bacteria in our lab, and we saw that it had a huge effect; we tested it in mice, and it had a huge effect. So that’s really exciting. We had another paper that came online yesterday that is one of these last papers from my postdoctoral work over at Stanford, where we actually managed to figure out some of how Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacteria that causes Lyme, manages to evade immune clearance.

Any respectable pathogen that can establish a persistent infection needs to figure out your immune system to the point that it can evade it. The fact that it has persisted means that it was able to evade your immune clearance. And so, I got to that from a very interesting direction working on immune regulation, trying to understand these brakes on the immune response and how they impact the response to infection. The immune system has the power to kill you and obviously, nobody has any incentive for that to happen. So, there are a lot of mechanisms in place to put brakes on the immune system and reign it in. One of the huge developments in cancer over the last two decades has been reevaluating the question: can we take those brakes off? So in my postdoc, I was studying a particular checkpoint where this was turning into an exciting immuno-oncology target, and I said, ‘I want to look at how this checkpoint is used in infection.’ I realized that this checkpoint was being used to help you survive an acute infection, but created a vulnerability for pathogens to evade immune clearance and establish chronic infection much like it allows cancer cells to evade immune clearance. In an amazing collaboration with Irv Weissman, Balyn Zaro, and Jenifer Coburn we realized that the bacteria that cause Lyme disease manipulate this brake and that’s how I became fascinated with Lyme. But I also became concerned about turning off this brake in cancer patients because I was concerned about what would happen if you used this on cancer patients during an active infection. Indeed, the clinical trials on this drug were ended due to increased death from infection, and I wish it hadn’t been tested during a worldwide pandemic.

Unlocking the Mysteries of Tick-borne Infections: Lyme Disease Biobank’s Tissue Collection Program Drives Research Momentum

Kirsten Stein and the Lyme Disease Biobank

By Bay Area Lyme Foundation

BAL Leading the Way Series

“My family knows that after I die, my tissues will be donated to Lyme Disease Biobank to provide researchers with the vital material they need to solve this horrible disease. I urge anyone with chronic/persistent Lyme to register with NDRI today. Let’s end this suffering together.”

-Kirsten Stein, Lyme Advocate

Lyme Disease Biobank^®, led by Liz Horn, PhD, MBI, is central to Bay Area Lyme Foundation’s 10-year search for answers to Lyme’s most intractable questions and is the most important program in the Foundation’s mission to make Lyme disease easy to diagnose and simple to cure.

The original Lyme Disease Biobank sample collection launched in 2014 focused on obtaining blood, urine, and serum samples from patients with early/acute Lyme disease. Once this program had been fully established, the Lyme Disease Biobank team explored adding tissue samples to the Biobank. Tissue samples could help researchers expand their investigations beyond the early stage of infection into how chronic/persistent Lyme and other tick-borne diseases impact the central nervous system, joints, and organs of Lyme patients.

With the tissue bank objectives defined, the Biobank connected with specialist organizations to provide the critical support needed to support sample collection and make the development of a tissue bank a reality.

Post-Mortem Tissue Collection Planning

Lyme Disease Biobank established a key partnership with the nonprofit National Disease Research Interchange (NDRI) to provide logistics for post-mortem tissue collection for the new tissue program. The Biobank also partnered with MyLymeData.org, allowing Lyme patients registered with the Biobank to link their MyLymeData profile to their tissue donation if desired. Bringing these two resources together provides for the organizing and recovery of post-mortem (after death) tissue. It ensures samples include redacted (removes identifying information) detailed patient medical histories—an important nuance for Lyme disease researchers.

“Although it is an emotional and difficult idea for anyone to plan to donate parts of their body to science after they have died, we believe that this decision is an important way for Lyme patients to change the course of Lyme disease research. Having access to tissues from the brain, heart, joints, and central nervous system of Lyme patients allows researchers to prove unequivocally that Lyme is present in tissue and contributes to patient suffering,” explains Linda Giampa, Executive Director, Bay Area Lyme Foundation and board member of Lyme Disease Biobank.

Bay Area Lyme Foundation Selects National Winner of the 2024 Emerging Leader Award for Research of Combination Therapies to Treat Chronic Lyme Disease

Trever Smith, PhD winner of Emerging Leader Award

By Bay Area Lyme Foundation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Bay Area Lyme Foundation Selects National Winner of the 2024 Emerging Leader Award for Research of Combination Therapies to Treat Chronic Lyme Disease

Winner Trever Smith, of Tufts University, will collect novel therapeutic data to develop a first-of-its-kind drug interaction compendium for Lyme Disease

PORTOLA VALLEY, Calif., August 1, 2024—Bay Area Lyme Foundation, a leading sponsor of Lyme disease research in the US, announces the recipient of the 2024 Emerging Leader Award (ELA), which is designed to support new and innovative research and aims to attract aspiring new scientific talent to the field of Lyme. This year’s winner, Trever Smith, PhD, Research Assistant Professor of Molecular Biology and Microbiology at Tufts University School of Medicine, will receive $150,000 for his work to identify precise treatment combinations that more effectively target persistent Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb) infection in persistent Lyme patients. For this research, Dr. Smith intends to develop a first-of-its-kind drug interaction compendium to help prioritize the most effective combinations for testing in pre-clinical models of Lyme disease. To do so, Dr. Smith will leverage techniques he and other researchers use to identify effective drug combinations against other infectious diseases, such as tuberculosis, and translate them for Bb. Due to the difficulty in diagnosing and treating Lyme disease, it is estimated that over two million patients currently suffer from the debilitating later-stage symptoms of persistent Lyme in the US, and there are currently no FDA-approved treatments for the persistent symptoms of Lyme disease.

“While combination therapies to treat chronic Lyme have shown promise in early research and are widely used with success in other disease areas, the vast majority of chronic Lyme patients are not able to benefit from combination therapies,” said Wendy Adams, research grant director, Bay Area Lyme Foundation. “Dr. Smith’s research aims to change this, as it builds on his previous research success in tuberculosis to bring the hope of combination therapies for Lyme to the forefront and seeks to give clinicians and researchers a better understanding of the advantages of combining current FDA-approved treatments in Lyme disease.”

Long COVID: What We Have Learned About Chronic Illness from the Front Lines

By Bay Area Lyme Foundation

BAL Spotlights Series

In this episode of Ticktective, Dana Parish interviews David Putrino, PhD, about the new Cohen Center for Recovery From Complex Chronic Illnesses at Mount Sinai which will focus on the treatment and study of Long COVID, chronic Lyme, and ME/CFS. Dr. Putrino begins by stressing the importance of complete assessment and individualized treatment for complex chronic conditions. He emphasizes the need for improved medical student and provider education to better understand and treat these illnesses.

“Death is not the only serious health outcome from COVID. An acute SARS-CoV-2 infection can absolutely rob you of your previous life as effectively as a severe infection that ends in death as anything else.”

– David Putrino

Putrino addresses the early COVID epidemic and the eventual identification of Long COVID. He discusses Long COVID’s viral persistence and inflammation and therapeutic approaches targeting endothelial dysfunction and platelet hyperactivation. The medical profession’s intractable denial and skepticism concerning these chronic diseases and the need for new diagnostic tools and research funding are also addressed.

Twin Cities Lyme Foundation and Bay Area Lyme Foundation Unite Efforts to Further Advance the Fight Against Tick-Borne Diseases

By Bay Area Lyme Foundation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Twin Cities Lyme Foundation and Bay Area Lyme Foundation Unite Efforts to Further Advance the Fight Against Tick-Borne Diseases

Twin Cities Lyme Foundation Founder Lisa Najarian and her husband Former CNBC Correspondent Peter Najarian to join the Advisory Board of Bay Area Lyme Foundation

Portola Valley, CA, May 29, 2024 — Bay Area Lyme Foundation, a leading sponsor of Lyme disease research in the US, today announced it has united efforts with Twin Cities Lyme Foundation (TCLF), a 6-year-old organization focused on raising awareness and aiding in the early detection of Lyme disease throughout Minnesota, to further advance the fight against tick-borne diseases in the Midwest.

“We have long collaborated with Twin Cities Lyme Foundation and are impressed with their work in addition to being grateful for the ongoing partnership, support and efforts of its founders over the past 8 years,” said Linda Giampa, executive director, Bay Area Lyme Foundation. “Our national footprint allows us to identify innovative research throughout the US, particularly on the East and West coasts, and provide valuable information about tick ecology across the country. Uniting our efforts further strengthens our work in the Midwest and creates greater opportunities to advance our mission of making Lyme disease easy to diagnose and simple to cure.”

New Discovery Identifies “Don’t Eat Me” Protein that Allows Lyme Bacteria to Evade Body’s Immune Response

By Bay Area Lyme Foundation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New Discovery Identifies “Don’t Eat Me” Protein that Allows Lyme Bacteria to Evade Body’s Immune Response

Stanford University/MIT/UCSF study funded by Bay Area Lyme Foundation offers new direction for tick-borne disease research, paving the way for potential new discoveries

Palo Alto, CA, May 7, 2024—Bay Area Lyme Foundation, a leading sponsor of Lyme disease research in the U.S., today announced a study finding a new mechanism of immune evasion used by Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb), the bacterium that causes Lyme disease. This study is the first to identify the specific Borrelia protein that acts as a “don’t eat me” signal to the body’s immune system in people with Lyme disease, offering insight into how the bacteria may persist in Lyme patients and introduces an entirely new research direction toward potential future treatments. The research was conducted at Stanford University and University of California San Francisco and funded in part by Bay Area Lyme Foundation. This groundbreaking data posted on bioRxiv on April 30, 2024, is expected to be published in a peer-review journal in the future.

“One of the big mysteries of Lyme disease has been how Borrelia is able to evade and survive the immune system – and this study helps answer that question. We’ve unlocked a critical door to understanding how this bacteria, and possibly other pathogens, manage to trick the immune system to evade clearance,” said lead author Michal Tal, PhD, principal scientist, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a Bay Area Lyme Foundation 2018 Emerging Leader Award winner who has received additional funding from the organization for this project.

In this study, researchers found that P66, a known Borrelia surface protein and one of the IgG Western Blot testing “bands” used for diagnosis, can inhibit an important portion of the immune response.

The Myth of the Bullseye: Why Recognizing the Spectrum of Lyme Disease Rashes is Critical for Diagnosis and Treatment

By Bay Area Lyme Foundation

BAL Spotlights Series

Anna Schotthoefer, PhD, a project scientist at Marshfield Clinic Research Institute in Wisconsin, discusses the collection and analysis of a specific subset of blood and urine samples for Lyme Disease Biobank—a Bay Area Lyme Foundation program—from patients diagnosed with tick-borne diseases in the state. Marshfield Clinic serves a large population in Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, which are highly endemic for Lyme disease. Her Bay Area Lyme-funded study of the Marshfield samples focused on visual documentation of rashes associated with Lyme disease and the challenges in accurately diagnosing the disease based on these rashes. The results highlight the difficulties in recognizing early Lyme: only two of 69 patients presented with the classic bullseye rash that doctors learn is the gold standard for diagnosing Lyme from textbooks. Schotthoefer discusses the variety of different rashes that can result from a tick bite, the characterization of the spectrum of rashes, the need for better Lyme diagnostics, and the ongoing efforts to develop new testing methods using the samples collected in LDB. She expresses optimism that in the next five to ten years, there will be significant advancements in Lyme disease detection, diagnosis, and therapeutics—largely thanks to patients who have contributed samples to LDB for ongoing research.

“The textbooks doctors read in medical school tell them, ‘Look for a bullseye rash; look for the target-like lesion,’ and it turns out that’s wrong. There is a need to continue educating clinicians and providers that Lyme rashes are a spectrum.”

– Anna Schotthoefer, PhD

Keeping Frontline Workers Safe: New Program Will Educate Firefighters At Risk for Lyme Disease

Functional Medicine for First Responders

By Bay Area Lyme Foundation

BAL Leading the Way Series

Sunjya Schweig, MD, founder of the California Center for Functional Medicine, discusses a new program he is developing with funding from Bay Area Lyme to provide education and awareness about Lyme disease and the risks of tick-borne infections for firefighters. Firefighters have a profile of unique occupational exposures, including tick bites, and there is a significant lack of education on this topic. This new program aims to create professional, engaging videos featuring firefighters sharing their experiences and providing information on tick bite prevention, checking for ticks, and what to do if bitten. The goal is to roll out the program in California first, targeting professional firefighter and first responder organizations and eventually expanding nationwide. The exact number of firefighters living with Lyme disease is unknown, but it is acknowledged that they have both occupational and recreational exposures. This new program is seen as a way to bring awareness and education to this population and beyond.

“Lyme is not really on the radar for many firefighters. They may have had tick bites either in the line of duty or out mountain biking or hiking when they’re off duty, but many don’t know that tick-borne disease is a big problem.”

– Sunjya Schweig, MD

New Study Reveals Potential Treatment for Neurologic Lyme Disease

By Bay Area Lyme Foundation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New Study Reveals Potential Treatment for Neurologic Lyme Disease

Blocking certain fibroblast growth factor receptors is shown to be effective in reducing inflammation and cell death caused by neurologic Lyme infection in laboratory studies

PORTOLA VALLEY, Calif. April 18, 2024—Bay Area Lyme Foundation, a leading sponsor of Lyme disease research in the US, recently announced the publication of a laboratory study showing that fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) inhibitors may be appropriate as an anti-inflammatory supplementary treatment for neurologic Lyme disease, for which there are no universally effective treatments. Published in the peer-reviewed journal Frontiers in Immunology, this study shows FGFRs are activated in response to both live and non-viable Lyme bacteria in preclinical brain tissue models. Further, inhibition of FGFR1, FGFR2, and FGFR3 may help mitigate the neuroinflammatory and neuropathogenic effects of infection by the bacteria that causes Lyme disease, Borrelia burgdorferi.

“Our research shows a potential connection between neurological Lyme disease and several other neurological conditions, and this common pathway may explain why Lyme can be confused with many other conditions. Increasing our knowledge of FGFRs and their effect on the brain will help us understand the common mechanisms that may underlie Lyme disease and other neurological diseases,” said Geetha Parthasarathy, PhD, assistant professor at Tulane National Primate Research Center, Tulane School of Medicine, and a Bay Area Lyme Foundation 2019 Emerging Leader Award winner. “This data shows that FGFRs can be novel targets of anti-inflammatory therapeutics in Lyme patients with persistent neuroinflammation.”

“Our findings from this and our previous studies also offer important insight that may help to explain why some patients still experience chronic neurological symptoms even after a short course of antibiotics,” added Dr. Parthasarathy.

New Study Demonstrates Protein May Provide Protection Against Lyme Disease

By Bay Area Lyme Foundation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New Study Demonstrates Protein May Provide Protection Against Lyme Disease

Sweat protein protects against Lyme disease in vivo and is a potential therapeutic avenue for drug development

PORTOLA VALLEY, Calif. April 3, 2024—Bay Area Lyme Foundation, a leading sponsor of Lyme disease research in the US, recently announced the identification of an unknown common missense variant at the gene encoding for Secretoglobin family 1D member 2 (SCGB1D2) protein that increases the susceptibility for Lyme disease as well as two previously known variants. Published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Communications, this study shows normal versions of the SCGB1D2 protein prevent infection by Borrelia in vivo and appear to be a host defense factor present in the skin, sweat, and other secretions, opening an exciting potential therapeutic avenue for Lyme disease. This research was also featured on NBC10 News in Boston.

“We are excited that our international collaboration with Hanna Ollia’s group and our co-authors has turned up such an exciting and unexplored avenue in the body’s defenses against Lyme disease,” said Michal Tal, PhD, Principal Scientist in the Department of Biological Engineering at MIT, and a Bay Area Lyme Foundation 2018 Emerging Leader Award winner. “This discovery reveals a human protein with protective activity against the bacteria that cause Lyme disease, which we hope could lead to a future path for exploring new methods to prevent and treat Lyme disease.”

This research has shown that the genetic variant of the SCGB1D2 which creates a misshapen protein appears to be specific for Lyme disease and has not been previously reported as associated with any other disease, phenotype, or infection. The researchers also found that about one-third of the population carries a genetic variant of this protein that is associated with Lyme disease in genome-wide association studies (GWAS).