Microbiology of Lyme disease

Borrelia burgdorferi one of the causative species of Lyme disease (borreliosis). Magnified 400 times.

Lyme disease, or borreliosis, is caused by spirochetal bacteria from the genus Borrelia,[1] which has 52 known species. Three species (Borrelia garinii, Borrelia afzelii, and Borrelia burgdorferi s.s.) are the main causative agents of the disease in humans,[2] while a number of others have been implicated as possibly pathogenic.[3][4] Borrelia species in the species complex known to cause Lyme disease are collectively called Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.), not to be confused with the single species Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto, a member of the complex, which is responsible for nearly all cases of Lyme disease in North America.[5]

Borrelia are microaerophilic and slow-growing. The primary reason for the long delays when diagnosing Lyme disease is their greater strain diversity than previously estimated.[6] The strains differ in clinical symptoms and/or presentation as well as geographic distribution.[7]

Except for Borrelia recurrentis (which causes louse-borne relapsing fever and is transmitted by the human body louse), all known species are believed to be transmitted by ticks.[8]

  1. ^ Radolf JD, Samuels DS, eds. (2021). Lyme Disease and Relapsing Fever Spirochetes: Genomics, Molecular Biology, Host Interactions, and Disease Pathogenesis. Caister Academic Press. ISBN 978-1-913652-61-6.
  2. ^ Stanek, Gerold; Wormser, Gary P; Gray, Jeremy; Strle, Franc (7 September 2011). "Lyme borreliosis". The Lancet. 379 (9814): 461–73. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(11)60103-7. PMID 21903253. S2CID 31461047.
  3. ^ Cutler SJ, Ruzic-Sabljic E, Potkonjak A (2016). "Emerging borreliae - Expanding beyond Lyme borreliosis" (PDF). Molecular and Cellular Probes. 31: 22–27. doi:10.1016/j.mcp.2016.08.003. PMID 27523487.
  4. ^ Pritt, Bobbi S (5 February 2016). "Identification of a novel pathogenic Borrelia species causing Lyme borreliosis with unusually high spirochaetaemia: a descriptive study". The Lancet Infectious Diseases. 16 (5): 556–564. doi:10.1016/S1473-3099(15)00464-8. PMC 4975683. PMID 26856777.
  5. ^ Tilly, Kit; Rosa, Patricia A.; Stewart, Philip E. (2008). "Biology of Infection with Borrelia burgdorferi". Infectious Disease Clinics of North America. 22 (2): 217–234. doi:10.1016/j.idc.2007.12.013. PMC 2440571. PMID 18452798.
  6. ^ Bunikis J, Garpmo U, Tsao J, Berglund J, Fish D, Barbour AG (2004). "Sequence typing reveals extensive strain diversity of the Lyme borreliosis agents Borrelia burgdorferi in North America and Borrelia afzelii in Europe" (PDF). Microbiology. 150 (Pt 6): 1741–55. doi:10.1099/mic.0.26944-0. PMID 15184561.
  7. ^ Ryan KJ, Ray CG, eds. (2004). Sherris Medical Microbiology (4th ed.). McGraw Hill. ISBN 978-0-8385-8529-0.
  8. ^ Felsenfeld O (1971). Borrelia: Strains, Vectors, Human and Animal Borreliosis. St. Louis: Warren H. Green, Inc.