A Chronic Lyme Biomarker?

Researchers identify an antibody profile that may mark patients who suffer persistent symptoms of the tick-borne disease.

| 2 min read

Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
2:00
Share

An adult deer tick, Ixodes scapularis, the species that carries Lyme diseasePHOTO BY SCOTT BAUER. (USDA ARS)

A more diverse antibody profile may distinguish people who experience chronic, persistent symptoms of Lyme disease, according to researchers at New York City's Weill Cornell Medical College.

Some people who are bitten by ticks and contract Lyme disease complain that their symptoms—including pain, lethargy, neurological problems and memory loss—persist for months or years after the infection has been treated with antibiotics. Controversy has swirled around such claims because physicians and researchers have been unable to find any trace of Borrelia burgdorferi, the spirochete bacterium that causes Lyme, in these so-called post-Lyme disease patients. But now, Weill Cornell immunologist Armin Alaedini and colleagues have uncovered a molecular signature that may explain why Lyme disease lingers in some, but not others.

Alaedini and his team found a ...

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to more than 35 years of archives, as well as TS Digest, digital editions of The Scientist, feature stories, and much more!
Already a member? Login Here

Keywords

Meet the Author

  • Bob Grant

    From 2017 to 2022, Bob Grant was Editor in Chief of The Scientist, where he started in 2007 as a Staff Writer.
Share
3D illustration of a gold lipid nanoparticle with pink nucleic acid inside of it. Purple and teal spikes stick out from the lipid bilayer representing polyethylene glycol.
February 2025, Issue 1

A Nanoparticle Delivery System for Gene Therapy

A reimagined lipid vehicle for nucleic acids could overcome the limitations of current vectors.

View this Issue
Considerations for Cell-Based Assays in Immuno-Oncology Research

Considerations for Cell-Based Assays in Immuno-Oncology Research

Lonza
An illustration of animal and tree silhouettes.

From Water Bears to Grizzly Bears: Unusual Animal Models

Taconic Biosciences
Sex Differences in Neurological Research

Sex Differences in Neurological Research

bit.bio logo
New Frontiers in Vaccine Development

New Frontiers in Vaccine Development

Sino

Products

Tecan Logo

Tecan introduces Veya: bringing digital, scalable automation to labs worldwide

Inventia Life Science

Inventia Life Science Launches RASTRUM™ Allegro to Revolutionize High-Throughput 3D Cell Culture for Drug Discovery and Disease Research

An illustration of differently shaped viruses.

Detecting Novel Viruses Using a Comprehensive Enrichment Panel

Twist Bio 
Zymo Research

Zymo Research Launches Microbiome Grant to Support Innovation in Microbial Sciences