Rocha Sandra C, Moustafa Mohamed A M, Velásquez Clara Vásquez, Azuama Onyedikachi C, Zafar Kashaf, Meyer Cory, Araujo Michael, Taylor Kyle, Parveen Nikhat
Department of Microbiology, Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Newark, New Jersey, USA.
Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine, Pullman, Washington, USA.
Microbiol Spectr. 2025 Sep 2;13(9):e0025225. doi: 10.1128/spectrum.00252-25. Epub 2025 Aug 12.
is increasingly co-transmitted with Lyme disease-causing by ticks in the endemic regions of the United States. Infection in mice by this parasite mirrors human babesiosis, such as anemia, splenomegaly, alterations in splenic leukocyte balance, and diminished humoral immunity associated with enhanced Lyme disease manifestations at the acute phase. To evaluate the long-term survival of and in mice and their effects on pathogenesis, we conducted a 16-week infection experiment in C3H/HeJ mice. All mice infected with irrespective of the co-infection, displayed a low-level, albeit microscopically detectable, parasitemia in both male and female mice even after 16 weeks post-infection. Splenomegaly was detected at this stage in both male and female mice and was significantly higher in females infected solely with compared to co-infected mice, likely due to a greater peak parasitemia at the acute phase of infection and persistent splenic manifestations in these mice. Interestingly, disrupted the blood-brain barrier (BBB) in mice, as reported during cerebral malaria caused by . Furthermore, colonization could be detected until 16 weeks of infection, while more pronounced Lyme inflammatory arthritis was observed at 4 weeks post-infection. This study underscores the complex interactions between and to affect each disease, highlighting the potential implications for vaccine development against Lyme spirochetes and therapeutic management of co-infected individuals.IMPORTANCETick-borne co-infections are becoming increasingly prevalent worldwide due to simultaneous or sequential acquisition and transmission by species ticks during their blood meal. We reported that and co-infection reciprocally affects these pathogens during the acute phase of infection; however, the effect of co-infections on microbial long-term persistence in the murine model was not previously investigated. In this study, we have filled a critical lacuna in understanding the interactions between these two pathogens at different stages of infection and their effects on the host and disease manifestations in mice. Our investigation provides insights into their pathogenicity to allow the development of effective vaccines and successful antimicrobials against these tick-borne co-infections.
在美国的流行地区，它越来越多地与由蜱传播的莱姆病共同传播。这种寄生虫在小鼠体内的感染情况与人类巴贝斯虫病相似，例如贫血、脾肿大、脾白细胞平衡改变以及急性期与莱姆病表现增强相关的体液免疫减弱。为了评估[具体寄生虫名称1]和[具体寄生虫名称2]在小鼠体内的长期存活情况及其对发病机制的影响，我们在C3H/HeJ小鼠中进行了一项为期16周的感染实验。所有感染[具体寄生虫名称1]的小鼠，无论是否合并感染，即使在感染后16周，雄性和雌性小鼠均表现出低水平的、尽管在显微镜下可检测到的寄生虫血症。在此阶段，雄性和雌性小鼠均检测到脾肿大，并且仅感染[具体寄生虫名称1]的雌性小鼠的脾肿大明显高于合并感染的小鼠，这可能是由于感染急性期更高的寄生虫血症峰值以及这些小鼠中持续的脾脏表现。有趣的是，[具体寄生虫名称2]会破坏小鼠的血脑屏障（BBB），正如在由[具体病原体名称]引起的脑型疟疾中所报道的那样。此外，在感染16周时仍可检测到[具体寄生虫名称2]的定植，而在感染后4周观察到更明显的莱姆炎性关节炎。这项研究强调了[具体寄生虫名称1]和[具体寄生虫名称2]之间复杂的相互作用对每种疾病的影响，突出了针对莱姆螺旋体疫苗开发以及合并感染个体治疗管理的潜在意义。重要性蜱传播的合并感染在全球范围内正变得越来越普遍，这是由于蜱虫在吸血过程中同时或相继获取并传播多种病原体。我们曾报道[具体寄生虫名称1]和[具体寄生虫名称2]的合并感染在感染急性期会相互影响这些病原体；然而，之前尚未研究合并感染对小鼠模型中微生物长期持续存在的影响。在这项研究中，我们填补了在理解这两种病原体在感染不同阶段的相互作用及其对小鼠宿主和疾病表现的影响方面的一个关键空白。我们的研究为它们的致病性提供了见解，以便开发针对这些蜱传播合并感染的有效疫苗和成功的抗菌药物。
