Remy
Administrator
Longitudinal Transcriptome Analysis Reveals a Sustained Differential Gene Expression Signature in Patients Treated for Acute Lyme Disease
ABSTRACT
- Jerome Bouqueta,
- Mark J. Soloskib,
- Andrea Sweic,
- Chris Cheadleb,
- Scot Federmana,
- Jean-Noel Billaudd,
- Alison W. Rebmanb,
- Beniwende Kabrea,
- Richard Halpertd,
- Meher Boorgulab,
- John N. Aucottb,
- Charles Y. Chiua
Lyme disease is a tick-borne illness caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, and approximately 10 to 20% of patients report persistent symptoms lasting months to years despite appropriate treatment with antibiotics. To gain insights into the molecular basis of acute Lyme disease and the ensuing development of post-treatment symptoms, we conducted a longitudinal transcriptome study of 29 Lyme disease patients (and 13 matched controls) enrolled at the time of diagnosis and followed for up to 6 months.
The differential gene expression signature of Lyme disease following the acute phase of infection persisted for at least 3 weeks and had fewer than 44% differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in common with other infectious or noninfectious syndromes. Early Lyme disease prior to antibiotic therapy was characterized by marked upregulation of Toll-like receptor signaling but lack of activation of the inflammatory T-cell apoptotic and B-cell developmental pathways seen in other acute infectious syndromes. Six months after completion of therapy, Lyme disease patients were found to have 31 to 60% of their pathways in common with three different immune-mediated chronic diseases. No differential gene expression signature was observed between Lyme disease patients with resolved illness to those with persistent symptoms at 6 months post-treatment.
The identification of a sustained differential gene expression signature in Lyme disease suggests that a panel of selected human host-based biomarkers may address the need for sensitive clinical diagnostics during the “window period” of infection prior to the appearance of a detectable antibody response and may also inform the development of new therapeutic targets.
http://mbio.asm.org/content/7/1/e00100-16