2004: Spinal cord involvement in the nonhuman primate model of Lyme disease.

Al just died from spinal lymphoma. He was in our Lyme group, nice guy.
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1: Lab Invest. 2004 Feb;84(2):160-72. Related Articles, Links


Spinal cord involvement in the nonhuman primate model of Lyme disease.

Bai Y, Narayan K, Dail D, Sondey M, Hodzic E, Barthold SW, Pachner AR,
Cadavid D.

Department of Neurology and Neuroscience, and Center for the Study of
Emerging Pathogens, UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ 07103,
USA.

Lyme borreliosis is a multisystemic disease caused by infection with
various genospecies of the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi. The organs
most often affected are the skin, joints, the heart, and the central
and peripheral nervous systems. Multiple neurological complications can
occur, including aseptic meningitis, encephalopathy, facial nerve
palsy, radiculitis, myelitis, and peripheral neuropathy. To investigate
spinal cord involvement in the nonhuman primate (NHP) model of Lyme
borreliosis, we inoculated 25 adult Macaca mulatta with B. burgdorferi
sensu strictu strains N40 by needle (N=9) or by tick (N=4) or 297 by
needle (N=2), or with B. burgdorferi genospecies garinii strains Pbi
(N=4), 793 (N=2), or Pli (N=4) by needle. Immunosuppression either
transiently (TISP) or permanently (IS) was used to facilitate
establishment of infection. Tissues and fluids were collected at
necropsy 7-24 weeks later. Hematoxylin and eosin staining was used to
study inflammation, and immunohistochemistry and digital image analysis
to measure inflammation and localize spirochetes. The spirochetal load
and C1q expression were measured by TaqMan RT-PCR. The results showed
meningoradiculitis developed in only one of the 25 NHP's examined, TISP
NHP 321 inoculated with B. garinii strain Pbi. Inflammation was
localized to nerve roots, dorsal root ganglia, and leptomeninges but
rarely to the spinal cord parenchyma itself. T cells and plasma cells
were the predominant inflammatory cells. Significantly increased
amounts of IgG, IgM, and C1q were found in inflamed spinal cord. Taqman
RT-PCR found spirochetes in the spinal cord only in IS-NHP's, mostly in
nerve roots and ganglia rather than in the cord parenchyma. C1q mRNA
expression was significantly increased in inflamed spinal cord. This is
the first comprehensive study of spinal cord involvement in Lyme
borreliosis.

PMID: 14688796 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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