Antioxidants May Protect Against TBI--article

Antioxidants may protect against tick-borne illness

For hikers, campers and others who enjoy the outdoors, summer can bring
concerns about tick bites and related illnesses such as Rocky Mountain
spotted fever. Researchers are investigating the role that antioxidants
-- alpha-lipoic acid and potentially others like green tea and vitamins
C and E, for example - might play in preventing or treating the
deadly rickettsia bacteria.

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, part of the
National Institutes of Health, awarded the University of Rochester
Medical Center $2 million for a five-year study of the antioxidant
theory. The grant caps more than a decade of rickettsia research led by
Sanjeev Sahni, Ph.D.

Rocky Mountain spotted fever is the most frequently reported illness in
the United States caused by the rickettsia bacteria, which is
transmitted by tick parasites. It usually afflicts otherwise healthy
adults and children who are bitten by wood ticks or dog ticks. The
illness can become life threatening if left untreated, and spotted
fever can be difficult for physicians to diagnose because the earliest
signs mimic less-serious viral illnesses. Limiting exposure to ticks is
the best way to prevent the disease. If it does develop, in most cases
doctors can treat it with antibiotics. Typhus is another rickettsial
disease spread by lice or fleas. Although less common, typhus remains a
threat in crowded jails and in other poor hygienic environments.

"Our studies have the potential to identify novel therapeutic targets
for a host of rickettsial diseases," said Sahni, an assistant professor
in Hematology/Oncology at the University of Rochester.

Dr. Howard Taylor Ricketts, who eventually died of typhus, identified
rickettsia in the late 1800s. Sahni's research group first began
investigating the rickettsia bacteria as a model to study the
biological changes that occur in the lining of the blood vessels
(endothelium) as the bacteria travels through the blood stream.
Initially they were looking at what types of cellular changes occur in
response to the infection. They discovered that cells undergo oxidative
stress and produce harmful free radicals, causing inflammation and
other complications.

Researchers hypothesized that antioxidants might serve as useful
therapies after examining the damage to infected cells, as seen by
electron microscopy, and through biochemical evidence proving oxidative
stress (OS), a term used to describe a level of damage in cells, tissue
and organs. Antioxidants can generally neutralize free radicals and
reduce oxidative damage. Earlier experiments in which scientists
infected cells with rickettsia bacteria and then treated the cells with
alpha-lipoic acid, a powerful antioxidant, showed that the infected
cells did, indeed, marshal a defense against the bacteria.

Sahni is also investigating what enzymes might boost antioxidants to
work more efficiently. His group is studying the process that occurs
when infected cells express cyclooxygenase (Cox-2) and prostaglandins,
which results in inflammation. This biological process is what causes
the severe swelling in the limb that was bitten by a tick harboring the
rickettsia bacteria. Sahni theorizes that regulating the Cox-2 response
with Cox-2 inhibitors such as ibuprofen could also help control the
disease.


###
The University of Rochester team is collaborating with David J.
Silverman, Ph.D., of the University of Maryland.

.

Relevant Pages

  • Antioxidants May Protect Against TBI--article
    ... Antioxidants may protect against tick-borne illness ... concerns about tick bites and related illnesses such as Rocky Mountain ... Researchers are investigating the role that antioxidants ... the United States caused by the rickettsia bacteria, ...
    (misc.health.alternative)
  • Re: Antioxidants May Protect Against TBI--article
    ... concerns about tick bites and related illnesses such as Rocky Mountain ... the United States caused by the rickettsia bacteria, ... They discovered that cells undergo oxidative ... Researchers hypothesized that antioxidants might serve as useful ...
    (sci.med.diseases.lyme)
  • Re: Antioxidants May Protect Against TBI--article
    ... the United States caused by the rickettsia bacteria, ... They discovered that cells undergo oxidative ... Researchers hypothesized that antioxidants might serve as useful ... therapies after examining the damage to infected cells, ...
    (sci.med.diseases.lyme)