Refractory Lyme Arthritis May Be Autoimmune

patient.journey

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http://www.medpagetoday.com/Rheumat...mail=kthrnstephens079@gmail.com&mu_id=5225386

Activated T- and B-cell responses to an autoantigen in synovial tissue may explain the development of resistant arthritis among a small number of patients with Lyme disease, researchers suggested.
Robust T-cell responses to an antigen known as endothelial cell growth factor (ECGF) were seen in 38% of peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with Lyme arthritis that had not cleared with antibiotic therapy, according to Allen C. Steere, MD, of Harvard Medical School, and colleagues.
In addition, B-cell-produced antibodies to ECGF were observed in 17% of patients with antibiotic refractory Lyme arthritis, but in no healthy controls (P<0.0001), the researchers reported in the January issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism.
 
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