Efficacy of clarithromycin for treatment of experimental Lyme disease in vivo

Abstract

Clarithromycin provided effective therapy against arthritis induced by Borrelia burgdorferi infection in the hamster. In vitro, clarithromycin was at least 1 log more potent than tetracycline against two isolates of B.burgdorfieri from human sources, as measured by MICs and 50%Y inhibitory concentrations. Clarithromycin was effective in preventing the onset of B. burgdoferi-induced arthritis, as determined by several parameters of paw swelling. When administered after the onset of arthritis, clarithromycin therapy reduced the degree of swelling and decreased recovery time. These results suggest that clarithromycin has potential as an effective therapy for Lyme disease.

Antimicrobial susceptibility of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato: What we know, what we don't know, and what we need to know

“…Similarly, for doxycycline, the MIC varies from 0.06 µg/ml to 2 µg/ml and the MBC from 0.25 µg/ml to 6.4 µg/ml [11,19,22,28,29]. Most importantly, the results of these studies are limited by the small numbers of isolates examined (from 2 to 30 strains), in contrast to investigations involving large numbers of common rapidly growing clinical isolates [11,[31][32][33], and also because susceptibility testing is rarely performed on newly isolated strains or on borreliae obtained from patients manifesting resistance to treatment. To overcome evident methodological problems and to simplify interpretation of the in vitro effectiveness of well known and newly developed antimicrobials against the B. burgdorferi s.l.…”

Antibiotic Treatment in Mice Infected with Japanese Borrelia garinii: Efficacy of Ceftriaxone for Eradicating the Infection Induced by Ixodes persulcatus Tick Bites

“…To supplement their data, we conducted a similar experiment using ceftriaxone (a member of third-generation of cephalosporins), erythromycin (a member of macrolides) and clarithromycin (a member of new macrolides). In most animal studies reported to date (1,5,11,15,20,21), borrelial infection was induced by the needle inoculation of cultured cells. This route of inoculation does not accurately reflect the natural infection of Borrelia species.…”

“…Several laboratory animal models such as hamster (1,11), jird (20,21) and mouse (5,15) have been used to assess the in vivo efficacy of antibiotics against Lyme disease borreliae. Using C3H mice infected with North Fig.…”

Some remarks on cutaneous marginal zone lymphoma

“… 2,3 This microorganism has been related to CMZL in a high percentage of cases in areas with endemic Lyme disease, 4 but also, although in a smaller percentage, in non‐endemic areas 3 . Moreover, B. burgdorferi responds to clarithromycin, at least under certain conditions, 5 and it is susceptible to amoxicillin, 6 both of which were used in the treatment of the patients in the report by Mandekou‐Lefaki et al . Moreover, there are cases in literature, in which cutaneous clonal proliferations related to B. burgdorferi infection, and confirmed as lymphoma at a molecular level, have been cleared by antibiotic treatment alone 3 .…”