Receptors:
It now appears that there are specific receptors in the Lyme spirochete to attach to endothelial cells, N-Acetyl-glucasamine, B-cells, glial cells, nerves, and neurons.

The way our immune system is supposed to work , is that it recognizes foreign invaders as being different from self, and it attacks the infection. Unfortunately the immune system sometime attacks our own cells. This called autoimmune disease. If a foreign invader has a chemical structure similar to our own tissue antigens, our bodies sometimes make antibodies against our own tissues. In people with Lyme disease scientists have discovered auto-antibodies against our own tissues including: (23,28,38-40,43,45,56,57,60,88)

* Nerve Cells (Axons)
* Cardiolipid
* Myelin (also seen in MS)
* Myelin Basic Protein (also seen in MS)
*Neurons (brain cells)

When the immune system finds a foreign invader, it tags that invader in a number of ways. A cell called the macrophage can engulf the bacteria, and then communicate to other immune cells the exact description of the bacteria. Another cell might mark the cell with antibody which attracts killer T-cells. Some types of T-cells communicate to other cells what to attack, and regulates the immune assault. But sometimes the body can produce a type of antibody that doesn’t attack or help. A blocking antibody will attach and coat the intruder, but it won’t fix compliment, and it shields the bacteria from further immune recognition. In Lyme we have seen quantities of IgG4 blocking antibody such as is seen in some parasitic infections. (Tom Schwann RML 92 LDF Conference)

* Note: Compliment is a term used for a series of 18 + digestive proteins that are only activated by signals from our immune system, such as compliment fixing antibodies that attach to foreign antigens.

In order for the immune system to make an attacking antibody, the immune system must first find an antigen which it can attack. Unfortunately as seen by freeze fracture electron microscope, photographs of the Lyme bacteria, show that most of the antigens are on the inside of the inner membrane, and not on the outside. (60) This makes the bacteria less visible to the immune system and more difficult to attack. The most intriguing fact about Borrelia spirochetes, is their well documented ability to change the shape of their surface antigens when they are attacked by the human immune system. When this occurs it takes several weeks for the immune system to produce new antibodies. During this time the infection continues to divide, and hide. (1,47,63,66)

It appears that Borrelia are able to change their surface antigens many times, and can do it quickly. In one study by Dr. Andrew Pachner MD, he infected mice with a single strain of Borrelia burgdorferi. After several weeks he was able to isolate two slightly different forms of the bacteria. The bacteria from the bloodstream was attacked and killed by the mouse’s immune sera, but the bacteria isolated from the mouse’s brain was unaffected by the immune sera. The bacteria isolated from the mouse’s brain had a new set of surface antigens. It appears that contact with the CNS caused the bacteria to change its appearance. Since the brain is isolated from the immune system, and is an immune privileged site, the bacteria became its own separate strain. (47,97)

This means: Infections of the bloodstream may be different from the infections that are sequestered in the brain. While we continue to have active immunity in the bloodstream, the brain has no immune defenses except for circulating antibodies. So if those circulating antibodies are ineffective to attack the bacteria in the brain, then the brain is left without any defenses, and the infection goes unabated.

Another peculiar observation of this bacteria is seen inside the bacteria. When the genetic control mechanisms of this bacteria are inhibited with antibiotics known as DNA Gyrase Inhibitors (ciprofloxin) the bacteria start to produce bacterio-phage. A phage is a virus that specifically attacks bacteria. In this case there are two distinct forms.

This means: the Lyme bacteria at one time was attacked by viruses, it was able to suppress them, but the DNA to make the phage is still incorporated within the DNA of the bacteria. Perhaps activation of this phage could one day be beneficial to treating chronic Lyme patients? (JTBD 94)

What happens when the infection gets to the brain?
In the case of Lyme disease every animal model to date shows, that the Lyme spirochete can go from the site of the bite, to the brain in just a few days. (41,60, abstract 644) While we know this bacteria can breakdown individual cell membranes, and capillaries, its entrance into the brain is too pronounced for such a localized effect. When the Lyme bacteria enters the human body, we react by producing several immune regulatory substances known as cytokines and lymphokines. Several of these act in concert to break down the blood brain barrier. (eg. Il-6, Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha, Il-1, Transforming Growth Factor-beta etc. ) In addition to affecting the blood brain barrier, these cytokines can make us feel ill, and give us fevers. (54,60,) (JID 1996:173, Jan)

Since the brain has no immune system, it prevents infection by limiting what can enter the brain. The capillary bed that surrounds the brain, is so tight that not even white blood cells are allowed to enter. Many drugs can’t enter either, making treatment of the brain especially hard. For the first ten days of a Lyme infection, the blood brain barrier is virtually non existent. This not only allows the Lyme bacteria to get in, but also immune cells that can cause inflammation of the brain. (41, see LDSM 95 for diagram)

*Note: The breakdown of BBB was shown to occur by tagging WBCs, albumin, and other substances known not to cross the BBB with radioactive Iodine. The CSF was tested, and then the animals were infected with Bb. Then the CSF was tested everyday for several weeks. The result: No cross over of Iodine in the control group, 100% crossover in the infected group for 10 days. The infection had the same result on the BBB, as if you were injecting the radioactive iodine directly into the brain. (60)

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