As we enter tick season, Lyme disease is a pressing health concern. As we move into this year, expert advocates have been sounding alarms about a possible wave of upticks. Lyme arthritis is one notable complication of Lyme disease. It affects seven in 10 individuals at some point during the course of the disease. This inflammatory condition leads to swelling in one or both knees. It can involve other joints including the shoulders, ankles, elbows, wrists, and hips.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) believes that we are overcounting the number of people with Lyme arthritis. That may be simply due to how we’re reporting cases right now. At the same time, research continues to show promising targets for new treatments. Two examples from the past month in Science Translational Medicine demonstrate some exciting new approaches. These approaches seek to clear out the persistent peptidoglycan underlying the symptoms of Lyme arthritis. This timely, breakthrough research will offer renewed hope for patients suffering from Lyme disease. Of the remaining adults, nearly 20% do not respond to any of the treatments currently available.
Understanding Lyme Arthritis
Chronic Lyme arthritis is the most common long-term complication of Lyme disease, mainly presenting with recurrent inflammatory arthritis. Patients often complain of extreme swelling, most markedly in their knees. It’s not just the lungs the disease can affect. The effects on quality of life and daily activities are devastating and often irreversible, leaving individuals unable to move freely.
Though common among patients with chronic Lyme disease, treatment for Lyme arthritis is often difficult. So current antibiotics just don’t work for certain people. Consequently, as many as 20% of patients continue to experience symptoms despite having undergone the best known routine medical care. This highlights the urgency for creative translational research and therapeutic strategies.
“Our recent discovery may provide a new treatment option for Lyme disease that could help patients recover quickly,” – Brandon Jutras
Promising Research Developments
A study led by Linda Wolz, Ph.D., at the University of California San Francisco, concerns the persistent peptidoglycan underlying Lyme arthritis. This molecule has been implicated solely in the critical role of symptom persistence and is thought to lead to long-term complications. Researchers are actively creating and testing innovative approaches to explicitly target this component with precision.
Jutras emphasized the importance of this research, stating, “We’re currently developing and testing strategies to target the lingering peptidoglycan.” Our aim is to flush this toxin completely out of the body. We’re hoping to develop it into an immune system-agnostic therapy and bring new hope of relief to patients who have failed to respond to available treatments.
“If the molecule is eliminated from the body, or the immune system simply no longer responds to the molecule, we may be able to help patients when conventional options have failed,” – Jutras
Challenges in Funding and Treatment Access
Even with these positive steps, there are still major hurdles in ensuring that Lyme disease receives the proper level of funding. Jutras emphasized a huge gap in federal funding for research on this debilitating condition. He noted that the right funding can open up research opportunities at an accelerated rate. Private sector interest appears to be lacking as current antibiotics are projected to have low profit margins.
“The private sector doesn’t seem to be interested because their profit margins are minimal on a pre-existing, currently available antibiotic,” – Jutras
As the research community pushes forward with their efforts to discover new and better treatments for patients with Lyme arthritis, we can’t afford to see funding dip. These studies will be a remarkable leap forward for scientific understanding. They might, in turn, produce more positive results for the millions of Americans living with this life-altering disease.
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