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Evaluation of the preventive capacities of a topically applied azithromycin formulation against Lyme borreliosis in a murine model.

ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVES: Systemic antibiotic treatment of Lyme borreliosis is effective during the early stages of the infection, while chronic manifestations of the disease may remain refractory and difficult to treat. This study was carried out in order to evaluate the potential of topically applied azithromycin to eliminate the spirochaetal organisms in the skin of the freshly bitten host and thereby prevent Lyme borreliosis. METHODS: Laboratory mice were challenged with Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto by needle inoculation or via infected ticks as vectors. Then, an azithromycin-containing formulation was applied once daily to the sites of exposure for three consecutive days. In the case of needle inoculation, a 5% azithromycin formulation was applied starting 1 h, 3 days and 5 days after infection. In the case of tick exposure, 4%, 10% and 20% azithromycin formulations were applied, starting directly after the detachment of the engorged ticks. Subsequently, the infection status of the mice was determined. RESULTS: Concentrations of azithromycin in murine skin were >3800-fold higher than the published minimal inhibitory concentration for B. burgdorferi as soon as 3 h after the first application. After needle inoculation, spirochaetes were not detectable in all infected mice after treatment, if the first application started 1 h or even after 3 days post-infection. Furthermore, no borrelial organisms were detected after topical treatment when ticks were used for spirochaete inoculation. CONCLUSIONS: Our data indicate that topical treatment with a formulation containing azithromycin is a promising approach to prevent Lyme borreliosis shortly after a tick bite.

SUBMITTER: Knauer J

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3215302 | biostudies-other | 2011 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Evaluation of the preventive capacities of a topically applied azithromycin formulation against Lyme borreliosis in a murine model.

Knauer Jens J Krupka Inke I Fueldner Christiane C Lehmann Joerg J Straubinger Reinhard K RK

The Journal of antimicrobial chemotherapy 20110915 12

<h4>Objectives</h4>Systemic antibiotic treatment of Lyme borreliosis is effective during the early stages of the infection, while chronic manifestations of the disease may remain refractory and difficult to treat. This study was carried out in order to evaluate the potential of topically applied azithromycin to eliminate the spirochaetal organisms in the skin of the freshly bitten host and thereby prevent Lyme borreliosis.<h4>Methods</h4>Laboratory mice were challenged with Borrelia burgdorferi ...[more]

PMID: 21921078

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Project description:Mixed or multiple-strain infections are common in vector-borne diseases and have important implications for the epidemiology of these pathogens. Previous studies have mainly focused on interactions between pathogen strains in the vertebrate host, but little is known about what happens in the arthropod vector. Borrelia afzelii and Borrelia garinii are two species of spirochete bacteria that cause Lyme borreliosis in Europe and that share a tick vector, Ixodes ricinus Each of these two tick-borne pathogens consists of multiple strains that are often differentiated using the highly polymorphic ospC gene. For each Borrelia species, we studied the frequencies and abundances of the ospC strains in a wild population of I. ricinus ticks that had been sampled from the same field site over a period of 3 years. We used quantitative PCR (qPCR) and 454 sequencing to estimate the spirochete load and the strain diversity within each tick. For B. afzelii, there was a negative relationship between the two most common ospC strains, suggesting the presence of competitive interactions in the vertebrate host and possibly the tick vector. The flat relationship between total spirochete abundance and strain richness in the nymphal tick indicates that the mean abundance per strain decreases as the number of strains in the tick increases. Strains with the highest spirochete load in the nymphal tick were the most common strains in the tick population. The spirochete abundance in the nymphal tick appears to be an important life history trait that explains why some strains are more common than others in nature. IMPORTANCE:Lyme borreliosis is the most common vector-borne disease in the Northern Hemisphere and is caused by spirochete bacteria that belong to the Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato species complex. These tick-borne pathogens are transmitted among vertebrate hosts by hard ticks of the genus Ixodes Each Borrelia species can be further subdivided into genetically distinct strains. Multiple-strain infections are common in both the vertebrate host and the tick vector and can result in competitive interactions. To date, few studies on multiple-strain vector-borne pathogens have investigated patterns of cooccurrence and abundance in the arthropod vector. We demonstrate that the abundance of a given strain in the tick vector is negatively affected by the presence of coinfecting strains. In addition, our study suggests that the spirochete abundance in the tick is an important life history trait that can explain why some strains are more common in nature than others.

Dataset Information

Evaluation of the preventive capacities of a topically applied azithromycin formulation against Lyme borreliosis in a murine model.

Publications

Evaluation of the preventive capacities of a topically applied azithromycin formulation against Lyme borreliosis in a murine model.

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