Lyme disease, potential plague of the 21st century detection problems resolved by imaging with the Bradford Variable Projection High Resolution Microscope

Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients,  Jan, 2005  by Robert W. Bradford,  Henry W. Allen

• E-mail
• Print
• Link

What may be the first case of Lyme disease was noted about 1974 in a 14-year old boy, taken to the hospital with extreme pains in the muscles of his legs and unable to walk. This case, coupled with other pertinent facts related to the boy and a highly classified US Government laboratory conducting research on contagious animal diseases in this same area is suggestive of a link between these two events. The Government laboratory alluded to is found on Plum Island, just north of Long Island, NY, and south of Lyme, Connecticut. Because of its secret nature, access to the island was only by ferryboat and restricted to the Government workers employed there. The 14-year old boy lived near the ferryboat dock. Although not providing proof, these considerations are highly indicative of a possible link between this research laboratory and the subsequent outbreak in 1975 of an unknown disease involving juveniles in Lyme, Connecticut. (29)

Etiology and Difficulty of Treatment

The first step in being able to treat any disease is to learn the cause (etiology) of that disease. Once the cause of Lyme disease was known, it would seem that a treatment modality would soon follow and the problem would be solved. Unfortunately, as history has shown, this was not to be the case. As more was learned about the causative agent, namely, the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi, it became obvious that this organism was unlike any that had been previously studied. It is one of the largest of spirochetes (0.25 X 25[mu]). Spirochetes in general are difficult to treat for several reasons; they have the ability to burrow into or between cells and hide, gaining protection from the immune system. Both Bb and Treponema pallidum, the causative agent for syphilis, have highly unusual outer membranes and the molecular architecture of these membranes is responsible for their ability to cause persistent infection.

[GRAPHIC OMITTED]

Bb also has a three-layer cell wall, helping to determine the spiral shape of the spirochete. This distinctive cell wall resembles those of Gram-negative bacteria, although Bb does not stain Gram-negative but is stained by silver stains (containing silver nitrate). This characteristic may be related to the purported treatment of Lyme disease by colloidal silver.

Another unusual structural feature is a single flagella, attached to each end of the spirochete, running the length of the organism and surrounded by it. This feature is significant in relation to immune protection since most bacterial flagella are highly antigenic. Still another difference in Bb structural architecture is a clear gel-like coating surrounding the bacteria, giving it protection from the immune system. (28) See Photo 1.

The DNA of Bb is arranged in a different manner than in other bacteria, lying along the inside of the inner membrane, resembling a net just under the skin. The bacteria spelicates specific genes, inserts them into its own cell wall and then pinches off that part of the cell membrane, releasing it into the surrounding medium. This fragment of the spirochete membrane with incorporated DNA is known as a "bleb." It is not understood why this strange event occurs or what advantage it gives the organism but some studies suggest that the function of blebs is to bind IgM antibodies, thereby protecting the organism from the immune system. See Photo 9, courtesy of Microbiol. & Immunol. 26 (3) (1982).