Through "protein profiling" of spinal fluid, a new research study shows that healthy individuals, certain Lyme disease patients with persistent neurologic symptoms, and chronic fatigue syndrome patients possess different proteins in their cerebrospinal fluid. This finding provides evidence that chronic fatigue syndrome and neurologic Lyme disease are distinct disease entities.

“The potential for spinal fluid biomarker detection to aid or actually establish diagnosis of Lyme disease is within our grasp,” according to Dr. Harriet Kotsoris, Medical Director for Time for Lyme, a Connecticut based non-profit organization that has been funding research for Lyme and tick-borne diseases since 2002 and has raised nearly $5 million to date.

The research was led by Dr. Steven E. Schutzer of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-New Jersey Medical School, and Drs. Thomas Angel, Tao Liu, and Richard D. Smith of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. The study, “Distinct Cerebrospinal Fluid Proteomes Differentiate Post-Treatment Lyme Disease from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome” is published in the February 23rd issue of PLoSONE. Time for Lyme provided funds for the study along with the National Institutes of Health among other organizations.

Benjamin H. Natelson, M.D., Professor, Department of Neurosciences, UMDNJ - NJMS and Brian Fallon, M.D., Director of the Columbia Center for Lyme and Tick-borne Diseases, established in 2007 with the support of TFL, were senior authors on this paper. Dr. Fallon's center houses a unique specimen biorepository as the source of specimens from post treatment Lyme disease patients used in this study.

Dr. Kotsoris also notes that this study exemplifies the key role collaboration plays in research funding among a wide variety of public and private institutions.

Click here for more information on the published study results.

As seen in the Greenwich Time on Sunday March 6, 2011.
Advocacy group considers new Lyme research groundbreaking

Lisa Chamoff, Staff Writer…
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About Time for Lyme: Time for Lyme’s mission is to fund research for Lyme and other tick-borne diseases and to support these programs through education, outreach and public policy initiatives. For more information call 203-969-1333 or visit www.timeforlyme.org.

Time for Lyme will hold a biannual fundraising gala Illusions of Lyme at 6 p.m. on April 2 at the Hilton Stamford Hotel in Stamford, CT. Proceeds from the event will be used to support research. For tickets or more information, call 646-502-9374.

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