Project description:Most Lyme disease patients treated with appropriate antibiotics recover rapidly and completely, but a minority of patients develop persistent symptoms correlating with disseminated disease, a greater severity of illness at presentation, and delayed antibiotic therapy. When lingering or recurrent symptoms are associated with a functional decline and persist for greater than 6 months, patients are considered to meet clinical criteria for post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome (PTLDS), although the exact molecular mechanisms underlying this condition remain unknown. We performed longitudinal whole transcriptome sequencing of PTLDS patients' immune cells. No immune mechanism specific to PTLDS were uncovered to date.
Project description:Gene expression in peripheral blood is shown sufficient to differentiate patients with metabolic disorders from control. The signatures of metabolic syndrome, coronary artery disease and type 2 diabetes also have significant overlap. Microarrays were performed on 35 subjects in the following groups: control (n=9), rheumatoid arthritis (n=6), metabolic syndrome (n= 6), coronary artery disease (n=6) and type 2 diabetes (n=8). Intensity values for each array were normalized to a sum of 10,000.
Project description:Eosinophilia–myalgia syndrome (EMS) is characterized by subacute onset of myalgias and peripheral eosinophilia, followed by chronic neuropathy and skin induration. The EMS epidemic in 1989 was linked to L-tryptophan consumption originating from a single source. Following the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ban on the sale of L-tryptophan, the incidence of EMS declined rapidly. Moreover, no new cases have been published since the FDA ban was lifted in 2005. We report the clinical, histopathological and immunogenetic features of a new case of L-tryptophan-associated EMS along with evidence of activated transforming growth factor-ß and interleukin-4 signaling in the lesional skin. 6 samples were analyzed to include EMS patient and two replicates along with three normal controls