Dataset Information

Mixed Borrelia burgdorferi and Helicobacter pylori Biofilms in Morgellons Disease Dermatological Specimens.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Morgellons disease (MD) is a dermopathy that is associated with tick-borne illness. It is characterized by spontaneously developing skin lesions containing embedded or projecting filaments, and patients may also experience symptoms resembling those of Lyme disease (LD) including musculoskeletal, neurological and cardiovascular manifestations. Various species of Borrelia and co-infecting pathogens have been detected in body fluids and tissue specimens from MD patients. We sought to investigate the coexistence of Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb) and Helicobacter pylori (Hp) in skin specimens from MD subjects, and to characterize their association with mixed amyloid biofilm development. METHODS:Testing for Bb and Hp was performed on dermatological specimens from 14 MD patients using tissue culture, immunohistochemical (IHC) staining, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing, fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) and confocal microscopy. Markers for amyloid and biofilm formation were investigated using histochemical and IHC staining. RESULTS:Bb and Hp were detected in dermatological tissue taken from MD lesions. Bb and Hp tended to co-localize in foci within the epithelial tissue. Skin sections exhibiting foci of co-infecting Bb and Hp contained amyloid markers including ?-amyloid protein, thioflavin and phosphorylated tau. The biofilm marker alginate was also found in the sections. CONCLUSIONS:Mixed Bb and Hp biofilms containing ?-amyloid and phosphorylated tau may play a role in the evolution of MD.

SUBMITTER: Middelveen MJ

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6627092 | biostudies-literature | 2019 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Mixed <i>Borrelia burgdorferi</i> and <i>Helicobacter pylori</i> Biofilms in Morgellons Disease Dermatological Specimens.

Middelveen Marianne J MJ Filush Katherine R KR Bandoski Cheryl C Kasliwala Rumanah S RS Melillo Anthony A Stricker Raphael B RB Sapi Eva E

Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) 20190517 2

<h4>Background</h4>Morgellons disease (MD) is a dermopathy that is associated with tick-borne illness. It is characterized by spontaneously developing skin lesions containing embedded or projecting filaments, and patients may also experience symptoms resembling those of Lyme disease (LD) including musculoskeletal, neurological and cardiovascular manifestations. Various species of Borrelia and co-infecting pathogens have been detected in body fluids and tissue specimens from MD patients. We sough ...[more]

PMID: 31108976

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Project description:Although the route of transmission of Helicobacter pylori remains unknown, drinking water has been considered a possible transmission vector. It has been shown previously that, in water, biofilms are a protective niche for several pathogens, protecting them from stressful conditions, such as low carbon concentration, shear stress, and less-than-optimal temperatures. In this work, the influence of these three parameters on the persistence and cultivability of H. pylori in drinking-water biofilms was studied. Autochthonous biofilm consortia were formed in a two-stage chemostat system and then inoculated with the pathogen. Total numbers of H. pylori cells were determined by microscopy using a specific H. pylori 16S rRNA peptide nucleic acid probe, whereas cultivable cells were assessed by standard plating onto selective H. pylori medium. Cultivable H. pylori could not be detected at any time point, but the ability of H. pylori cells to incorporate, undergo morphological transformations, persist, and even agglomerate in biofilms for at least 31 days without a noticeable decrease in the total cell number (on average, the concentration was between 1.54 x 10(6) and 2.25 x 10(6) cells cm(-2)) or in the intracellular rRNA content may indicate that the loss of cultivability was due to entry into a viable but noncultivable state. Unlike previous results obtained for pure-culture H. pylori biofilms, shear stress did not negatively influence the numbers of H. pylori cells attached, suggesting that the autochthonous aquatic bacteria have an important role in retaining this pathogen in the sessile state, possibly by providing suitable microaerophilic environments or linking biomolecules to which the pathogen adheres. Therefore, biofilms appear to provide not only a safe haven for H. pylori but also a concentration mechanism so that subsequent sloughing releases a concentrated bolus of cells that might be infectious and that could escape routine grab sample microbiological analyses and be a cause of concern for public health.

Dataset Information

Mixed Borrelia burgdorferi and Helicobacter pylori Biofilms in Morgellons Disease Dermatological Specimens.

Publications

Mixed <i>Borrelia burgdorferi</i> and <i>Helicobacter pylori</i> Biofilms in Morgellons Disease Dermatological Specimens.

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