Clinical Trial: Evaluation of Lyme Disease: Clinical, Microbiological and Immunological Characteristics

Study Status: Recruiting
Recruit Status: Recruiting
Study Type: Observational

Official Title: A Comprehensive Clinical, Microbiological and Immunological Assessment of Patients With Suspected Chronic Lyme Infection and Selected Control Populations

Brief Summary:

This study will determine whether patients who have been infected with the Lyme bacteria, Borrelia burgdorferi, and treated with antibiotics still have the bacteria alive inside them and whether it is causing their symptoms. The information from this study may serve as a basis for developing stringent diagnostic criteria for Lyme disease and the establishment of future treatment trials.

Individuals in the following categories may be eligible for this study: chronic Lyme disease; chronic Lyme arthritis; seropositive control (are infected with the bacteria that causes Lyme disease but do not have disease symptoms); recovered control (have been sick with Lyme disease but were treated successfully and are currently well); control with multiple sclerosis (patients with multiple sclerosis); and healthy volunteers. Patients in the chronic Lyme disease category must be age 13 and above; all others must be age18 and above. Candidates will be screened with blood and urine tests.

Participants will have a physical examination and the following tests:

Blood tests Includes HLA-typing, a genetic test of immune system markers;

Leukapheresis Collection of large numbers of white blood cells Whole blood is collected through a needle in an arm vein. The blood circulates through a machine that separates it into its components. The white cells are removed and the rest of the blood is returned to the body, either through the same needle used to draw the blood or through another needle in the other arm. (Alternatively, patients will 100 cc (about 7 tablespoons) of blood drawn.);

Lumbar puncture (spinal tap) Collection of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF, fluid that bathes the brain and spinal cord). A local

Detailed Summary: Lyme disease has emerged as the leading vector-borne disease in the United States. Despite how much has been learned about Lyme borreliosis in the past decade, there are still many remaining areas of uncertainty. One fundamental question is whether persistent signs and symptoms of disease, despite the administration of what is currently considered to be adequate antibiotic therapy, are due to ongoing active borrelial infection, to a post-infectious syndrome, to irreversible sequelae of earlier tissue injury or due to a condition unrelated to Lyme disease. Reliable objective markers of infection, of clinical status and of host responses to the organism are required to discern the scope and the implications of persistent borrelial infection, the effectiveness of current treatment options, and the development of new therapeutic approaches. The goal of this study is to assemble and follow a well-characterized cohort of patients with post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome and relevant controls that will yield a prospective database upon which stringent diagnostic criteria can be established and future therapeutic trials can be designed.
Sponsor: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)

Current Primary Outcome:

  • Long term outcome [ Time Frame: Initial visit and follow up ]
  • Immunological markers [ Time Frame: Initial visit and follow up ]
  • Biomarkers [ Time Frame: Initial visit and follow up ]


Original Primary Outcome:

Current Secondary Outcome:

Original Secondary Outcome:

Information By: National Institutes of Health Clinical Center (CC)

Dates:
Date Received: November 3, 1999
Date Started: March 22, 1996
Date Completion:
Last Updated: April 21, 2017
Last Verified: March 9, 2017