title: Is there a place for xenodiagnosis in the clinic?
abstract: Whether Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease, can persist after antibiotic therapy is an area of ongoing controversy. In animal models, B. burgdorferi DNA can be detected in tissues after antibiotic therapy as well as by using the natural tick vector to acquire the organism through feeding (xenodiagnosis). Vector arthropods have been successfully used in xenodiagnosis to describe the etiology of infections such as malaria, typhus and Chagas disease. Our recent safety trial of xenodiagnosis demonstrates that ticks may be successfully fed on patients and may help determine the biological basis for post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome.
authors.affiliation: Tufts University Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, North Grafton, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Sam R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Telford
authors.forename: Linden T
authors.initials: LT
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Adriana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Marques
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D008193:Lyme Disease / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000469:parasitology; D010272:Parasitic Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D020525:Xenodiagnosis / Q000266:history / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
keywords: Borrelia burgdorferi; Ixodes dammini; Lyme disease; clinical trial; xenodiagnosis