title: A role for peripheral blood fibrocytes in Lyme disease?
abstract: It is proposed that peripheral blood fibrocytes will be a new and important player in the pathogenesis of Lyme disease. Peripheral blood fibrocytes are a circulating leukocyte subpopulation that: (a) express collagen; (b) are an abundant source of cytokines, chemoattractants and growth factors; and (c) are able to recruit and activate naive T-cells and memory T-cells. We predict that peripheral blood fibrocytes will represent a new and important antigen-presenting cell which will play an important role in directing the immune response from the pathogenic Th1 to the protective Th2 response cell in Borrelia infections.
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Maryland, Baltimore 21287, USA. dgrab@jhmi.edu
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Grab
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Salim
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chesney
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bucala
authors.forename: H-N
authors.initials: HN
authors.lastname: Lanners
mesh_terms: D025065:Borrelia burgdorferi / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008193:Lyme Disease / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology