| CaliforniaLyme 2006-02-25, 4:40 pm |
| 1: Br J Cancer. 2006 Feb 21; [Epub ahead of print] Related Articles,
Links
Mycosis fungoides: is it a Borrelia burgdorferi-associated disease?
Tothova SM, Bonin S, Trevisan G, Stanta G.
1ICGEB - International Centre for Genetic Engineering and
Biotechnology, 99 Padriciano, Trieste 34012, Italy.
Mycosis fungoides (MF) is the most frequently found cutaneous T-cell
lymphoma with an unknown aetiology. Several aetiopathogenetic
mechanisms have been postulated, including persistent viral or
bacterial infections. We looked for evidence of Borrelia burgdorferi
(Bb), the aetiologic agent of Lyme disease (LD), in a case study of MF
patients from Northeastern Italy, an area with endemic LD. Polymerase
chain reaction for the flagellin gene of Bb was used to study
formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded lesional skin biopsies from 83
patients with MF and 83 sex- and age-matched healthy controls with
homolocalised cutaneous nevi. Borrelia burgdorferi-specific sequence
was detected in 15 out of 83 skin samples of patients with MF (18.1%),
but in none out of 83 matched healthy controls (P<0.0001). The Bb
positivity rates detected in this study support a possible role for Bb
in the aetiopathogenesis of MF in a population endemic for LD.British
Journal of Cancer advance online publication, 21 February 2006;
doi:10.1038/sj.bjc.6602997 www.bjcancer.com.
PMID: 16495924 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|