Locke Jonathan W
Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA.
Antibiotics (Basel). 2019 Jun 13;8(2):80. doi: 10.3390/antibiotics8020080.
Lyme disease (LD) is an increasingly prevalent, climate change-accelerated, vector-borne infectious disease with significant morbidity and cost in a proportion of patients who experience ongoing symptoms after antibiotic treatment, a condition known as post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome (PTLDS). Spirochetal bacteria of species are the causative agents of LD. These obligate parasites have evolved sophisticated immune evasion mechanisms, including the ability to defeat the innate immune system's complement cascade. Research on complement function and evasion mechanisms, focusing on human disease, is reviewed, highlighting opportunities to build on existing knowledge. Implications for the development of new antibiotic therapies having the potential to prevent or cure PTLDS are discussed. It is noted that a therapy enabling the complement system to effectively counter might have lower cost and fewer side-effects and risks than broad-spectrum antibiotic use and could avert the need to develop and administer a vaccine.
莱姆病（LD）是一种日益流行、受气候变化加速影响的媒介传播传染病，在一部分抗生素治疗后仍有持续症状的患者中会导致显著的发病率并产生高昂费用，这种情况被称为治疗后莱姆病综合征（PTLDS）。特定种类的螺旋体细菌是莱姆病的病原体。这些专性寄生虫进化出了复杂的免疫逃避机制，包括击败先天免疫系统补体级联反应的能力。本文综述了针对人类疾病的补体功能及逃避机制的研究，突出了在现有知识基础上进一步拓展的机会。讨论了开发有可能预防或治愈PTLDS的新型抗生素疗法的意义。需要注意的是，一种能使补体系统有效对抗（病原体）的疗法可能比使用广谱抗生素成本更低、副作用和风险更少，并且可以避免研发和接种疫苗的必要性。
