After screening nearly 500 FDA-approved compounds, researchers determined that piperacillin cured mice infected with Lyme disease at a dosage 100-fold lower than doxycycline.
For years, Vineyard doctors have been prescribing doxycycline to deal with Lyme disease caused by the Island’s growing tick population. Now, researchers from Northwestern University are wondering if there is a better way to treat the disease.
In a new study released this spring, the team of scientists led by Brandon Jutras have found that another antibiotic can cure Lyme at a fraction of the dosage of doxycycline treatment — leaving out the typical adverse side effects from the existing gold standard.
After screening nearly 500 FDA-approved compounds, the researchers determined that piperacillin, an antibiotic in the penicillin family, cured mice infected with Lyme disease at a dosage 100-fold lower than doxycycline.
“Piperacillin just proved to be so good that we are actively working to try and get a clinical trial established for it,” Mr. Jutras said in an interview with the Gazette this week.
Ticks spread Lyme after feeding on infected animals, such as deer.
Ticks spread Lyme after feeding on infected animals, such as deer.
Though the research still faces years of rigorous testing before it can be proved safe and effective for humans, Islanders were intrigued by the idea of an alternative to doxycycline. Vineyard residents face an increasing number of ticks and tick-related maladies, and Dukes County has the highest rate of Lyme disease in the country.
“The research on the mice looks promising,” said Dr. Gerry Yukevich, a doctor at the revamped Martha’s Vineyard Medical practice in Vineyard Haven.
Lyme disease, which is notoriously hard to diagnose, is spread by ticks that feed on infected mammals and later bite humans. The disease causes fever, headaches and a trademark bullseye rash. If left untreated, it can spread to the joints, the heart and the nervous system.
The bacteria that causes Lyme is what makes the disease so confounding, according to Mr. Jutras, a bacteriologist that has been studying the disease for years and has visited the Vineyard.
“The way the bacterium that causes Lyme disease, the way that it grows... is fundamentally different from virtually all other bacteria,” he said.
While others are just constantly expanding, the Lyme bacteria grows in more discreet “zones,” according to Mr. Jutras, making it difficult to stop.
“We had a good way to basically screen drugs, looking for drugs that interfered with this different process,” he said.
Piperacillin is often part of a cocktail used to kill bacteria for various diseases, and is an ingredient in the brand name drug Zosyn.
Dr. Yukevich said that piperacillin is often used to treat serious infections in hospitalized patients and is usually administered by injections, making it less convenient than doxycycline, which is given by tablets or capsules.
What was exciting about the research for the Northwestern team was the need for such a small dosage when compared to doxycycline. Doxycycline, which was first used in the 1960s and has since become one of the most prescribed antibiotics in the world, kills a wide variety of bacteria, but in doing so can cause people to have stomach issues, among other things.
“The change in enteric bacteria from doxycycline, alas, can result in patients having bad intestinal problems,” Dr. Yukevich said. “So, if they can make piperacillin available cheaply and as a pill, maybe we can move ahead in treatment and prevention.”
Doxycycline also doesn’t work in some cases, though it’s unclear if piperacillin would fare any better without clinical trials.
“We’re not trying to cure mice, we’re trying to cure humans,” Mr. Jutras said. “So the next steps are to really assess this in a clinical trial and put it up against doxycycline.”
That may be harder under the current federal administration, which has made cuts to the National Institutes of Health — the agency that supports research.
For now, though, Islanders have some optimism while doxycycline continues to be the standard treatment.
“I know doxy isn’t perfect,” said Patrick Roden-Reynolds, the Island’s tick biologist. “It will be interesting to see how that develops.”
Comments
Thank you for expanding your
Gabrielle West TisburyThank you for expanding your research!
While this may eventually
Quitsa ChilmarkWhile this may eventually become an important form of treatment, we need to stop screwing around and do more to control the animals that host the ticks, especially deer. Bambi is trying to make you sick. The island needs a major deer cull beyond what the regular hunting season provides. Trapping raccoons and skunks and reducing mice and rats will also help. Lyme and other tick-borne disease costs us a huge amount in medical care and lost work days. We are also losing access to the natural beauty of the island out of fear of exposure to ticks when out walking trails.
Is it insane to think
Theresa AquinnahIs it insane to think eliminating the population of deer on Martha's Vineyard would have a huge impact on the incidence of Lyme and other tick-borne infections?
Wasn’t there a study that
jdWasn’t there a study that shrews carry more ticks than deers? Either way, we need to study this and take action. Lock and loaded.
While the lifecycle of the
Lea Hamner ChilmarkDeer abundance = tick abundance. While the lifecycle of the bacteria and viruses are quite complex and can vary disease to disease, deer are absolutely *the* animal that sustains deer tick and lone star tick populations at their current levels on the island. Deer ticks are named deer ticks for a reason. That's the animal the adult female deer ticks feed on to then have their 2000-4000 eggs. It's also the preferred host for all stages of lone star tick and lone star adult females can have 5000 eggs.
I didn't know this until I spent time with the tick experts, Patrick Roden-Reynolds (MV Tick Program, tick and deer biologist) and Dr. Sam Telford (Tufts tickborne disease researcher with longstanding research on MV). Both have presented on this to community and are available to community questions if you want to reach out to them.
Articles like this start with
Ken Rusczyk OBArticles like this start with excitement and hope and then upside slap you with "years of rigorous testing" must occur before we get help. Fast track this please.People spend billions on false snake oil to lose weight or wrinkle remover with NO testing or oversight.Get this done!
Please edit this article to
Norma Costain EdgartownPlease edit this article to read that not all tick bites that cause Lyme show a 'bullseye rash'. It is well known in the medical establishment that you can be bitten by an infected tick and have no rash.
If you begin to experience symptoms of fever, headaches, joint pain, brain fog, heavy fatigue, see a doctor for doxycycline. If caught early and treated, you can get rid of it.
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