Next, Lewis and his collaborators tried hygromycin-A on Lyme-infected mice. Once again, it cleared the Lyme infection in the treated mice, while leaving their gut bacteria intact. They then tested the drug for use in the environmental eradication of Lyme in field mice, with similar results.
Could this research point to a cure for chronic Lyme disease?
Oct 06, 2021 · The team tested Hygromycin A as a treatment for Lyme disease in a mouse model and found that, as Lewis puts it, “it clears it very nicely.”. Lewis’ team has already licensed the compound to Flightpath, a biotech company focused on Lyme disease, to perform development studies and pursue production of this treatment.
Could Hygromycin A be a new treatment for Lyme disease?
In the early stages, Lyme disease is treatable with antibiotics such as doxycycline. However, such medications can disrupt the gut microbiome, leading to …
What is Kim Lewis doing now?
Jul 27, 2018 · NAME: Kim Lewis, Ph.D. TITLE: University Distinguished Professor; Director, Antimicrobial Discovery Center; Department of Biology. INSTITUTION: Northeastern University. Dr. Lewis is one of the foremost scientists tackling Lyme disease. In 2015, Dr. Lewis’s published report in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy confirms GLA/Johns Hopkins original …
What are the symptoms of chronic Lyme disease?
Well-known Lyme researcher Dr. Kim Lewis of Northeastern University has identified an antibiotic that appears to selectively kill Lyme spirochetes while leaving gut microbes alone. This is highly significant because there hasn’t been a drug developed specifically to treat …
What is the most effective treatment option for Lyme disease?
What is the latest treatment for Lyme disease?
Is it possible to eradicate Lyme disease?
What is the treatment protocol for Lyme disease?
GLA: What motivated you to focus on Lyme and tick-borne disease research?
KL: The challenge of a tough unsolved problem, and the promise of finding a cure for Lyme disease.
GLA: What discovery has been most gratifying?
KL: We identified two compounds that are highly active, and selective, against Borrelia burgdorferi in a mouse model of Lyme disease. These compounds hold the promise to rapidly treat acute Lyme and diminish development of PTLDS.
PUBLISHED LYME DISEASE RESEARCH
Borrelia burgdorferi, the Causative Agent of Lyme Disease, Forms Drug-Tolerant Persister Cells Bijaya Sharmaa, Autumn V. Browna, Nicole E. Matlucka, Linden T. Hub and Kim Lewis Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. August 2015 vol. 59 no. 8 4616-4624
Antibiotics from soil
Did you know that most antibiotics are produced in nature by bacteria and fungi in the soil?
Protecting friendly bacteria
The researchers first tested hygromycin-A in a lab dish and found it highly effective against Borrelia and then later against various Treponemes (found in adult and congenital syphilis as well as in periodontal disease). These are all types of spirochetal bacteria, a dangerous category of human pathogen.
What are Phase I, Phase II and Phase III studies?
Determining the true benefit of a drug in a clinical trial is a difficult and lengthy process. Once a drug has been developed, there are three additional phases to obtaining FDA approval of the drug:
Another project–the search for a chronic Lyme biomarker
Flightpath has another ongoing project of high interest to our community—the search for a biomarker for chronic Lyme disease.
Signs of infection
If a person becomes infected with Lyme disease after a tick bite, it can present in a variety of different symptoms. One of the most common signs is the typical circular skin inflammation that forms around the tick bite and spreads in a ring shape. In people with darker complexions, the rash can look like a bruise.
Don't let ticks get to you
It is not yet possible to prevent Lyme disease. Tick bites should be avoided from the outset — also in view of the fact that the insects can transmit other diseases as well, such as tick-borne encephalitis (TBE), for example.
How is Lyme disease treated?
In the early stages, Lyme disease is treatable with antibiotics such as doxycycline. However, such medications can disrupt the gut microbiome, leading to symptoms such as diarrhea. At worst, the antibiotic could promote the development of antibiotic resistance. However, if Lyme disease is not treated, it becomes chronic and keeps coming back.
A targeted Lyme disease treatment
But back to the optimism mentioned at the start of this article: During a recent study, a team under Kim Lewis at Northeastern University found that a compound called hygromycin A is completely harmless to animals and has little effect on most bacteria — except so-called spirochete bacteria, named for their spiral shape. For those, it is deadly.
Eradication of Lyme disease?
"I hope that it will continue moving forward in development and will become the first therapeutic to treat Lyme disease," Lewis says.