Scientists propose a rapid diagnosis of Lyme disease

a new test to distinguish between Lyme disease and another tick-borne infectious disease with almost the same symptoms. This will allow doctors to treat the disease more quickly, thus preventing the onset of its debilitating symptoms. The results were published in the journal Science-Translational Medicine.
Lyme disease is caused by Burch's helix bacteria. The bacteria is contracted when ticks suck up the blood of infected mice and pass it on to humans through bites. Previous tests have tried to identify antibodies produced by the body against bacteria, but they are unreliable in the early stages of infection. At the same time, there are currently no diagnostic tests for the associated rash-like disease (STARI) in the South.
when the body is infected, metabolism is disturbed and chemicals in the blood are affected. John Belisle and colleagues from Colorado State University in the United States wanted to know if Lyme disease and STARI could be distinguished by measuring changes in the abundance of specific metabolites in the blood caused by each disease.
, they took 220 blood samples from patients diagnosed with Lyme disease or STARI and compared them to blood samples from a healthy control group. Samples of the disease were collected within 6 days of the on-the-appearance of skin damage. The team identified several differences between VARI and Lyme disease, including differences in fatty acid levels, and trained algorithms to identify these differences. When tested on a new set of samples, the algorithm was able to diagnose Lyme disease and STARI with 85% and 92% accuracy, respectively.
"We're trying to develop it into a clinical test," he said. Belisle said, "We hope to do this within a year, followed by strong clinical trials." However
a representative from the UK charity Fighting Lyme Disease said the test could only be associated with specific strains that cause disease in the US. "Because Lyme disease in Europe is not the same as in the United States, this study may not be applicable to Lyme disease in Europe, which produces different metabolites." (Source: Science Network Zonghua)