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Borrelia burgdorferi Co-Localizing with Amyloid Markers in Alzheimer’s Disease Brain Tissues
Author(s) -
Alireza G. Senejani,
Jasmin Maghsoudlou,
Dina El-Zohiry,
Gauri Gaur,
Keith Wawrzeniak,
Cristina Caravaglia,
Vishwa A. Khatri,
Alan B. MacDonald,
Eva Sapi
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
journal of alzheimer's disease
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.677
H-Index - 139
eISSN - 1875-8908
pISSN - 1387-2877
DOI - 10.3233/jad-215398
Subject(s) - borrelia burgdorferi , lyme disease , amyloid (mycology) , pathology , immunohistochemistry , antigen , borrelia , biology , virology , immunology , medicine , antibody
Background: Infections by bacterial or viral agents have been hypothesized to influence the etiology of neurodegenerative diseases. Objective: This study examined the potential presence of Borrelia burgdorferi spirochete, the causative agent of Lyme disease, in brain autopsy tissue of patients diagnosed with either Alzheimer’s (AD) or Parkinson’s diseases. Methods: Brain tissue sections from patients with age-matched controls were evaluated for antigen and DNA presence of B. burgdorferi using various methods. Positive Borrelia structures were evaluated for co-localization with biofilm and AD markers such as amyloid and phospho-tau (p-Tau) using immunohistochemical methods. Results: The results showed the presence of B. burgdorferi antigen and DNA in patients with AD pathology and among those, one of them was previously diagnosed with Lyme disease. Interestingly, a significant number of Borrelia-positive aggregates with a known biofilm marker, alginate, were found along with the spirochetal structures. Our immunohistochemical data also showed that Borrelia-positive aggregates co-localized with amyloid and phospho-tau markers. To further prove the potential relationship of B. burgdorferi and amyloids, we infected two mammalian cell lines with B. burgdorferi which resulted in a significant increase in the expression of amyloid-β and p-Tau proteins in both cells lines post-infection. Conclusion: These results indicate that B. burgdorferi can be found in AD brain tissues, not just in spirochete but a known antibiotics resistant biofilm form, and its co-localized amyloid markers. In summary, this study provides evidence for a likely association between B. burgdorferi infections and biofilm formation, AD pathology, and chronic neurodegenerative diseases.

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