Babesia microti Treatments

             In a previous post I discussed the importance of studying Babesia microti.  One of the reasons is that it has the same vector, Ixodid ticks, as the parasite Borrelia burgdorferi, which causes Lyme disease.  Ten percent of patients, in the United States, infected with Borrelia burgdorferi are also co-infected with Babesia microti (Shoemaker et al., 2006).  The number of individuals with co-infections is still on the rise.  The double infection of the two parasites can cause more severe and persistent symptoms.  Patients with co-infections showed resistance to the drugs Azithromycin and Atovaquone, which are normally used to treat these parasitic infections (Shoemaker et al., 2006).  Other problems with the previous drugs of choice were that it did not relieve post Lyme disease syndrome (PLS) symptoms.  PLS is a set of symptoms that arise after Lyme disease has been treated.  It is most likely due to a neurotoxin released by the parasite B. burgdorferi.  It is believed that Babesia microti may also release a similar neurotoxin (Shoemaker et al., 2006).                                   

            An experiment was preformed in order to find the most effective drug for treating co-infections of B. microti and B. burgdorferi.  The results showed that a treatment of atovaquone  plus cholestyramine over a 9-week period is necessary to relieve the symptoms of both infections (Shoemaker et al., 2006).  The drug cholestyramine was also effective in relieving PLS symptoms in majority of the patients.  This is most likely due to the ability of cholestyramine to bind to the neurotoxins secreted by B. burgdorferi.  Once cholestyramine binds to the neurotoxin it can be excreted through the feces.  The reason previous drugs were less effective at relieving PSD symptoms is because although they would kill the parasites B. microti and B. burgdorferi they would leave the neurotoxins in the host’s blood stream (Shoemaker et al., 2006).  

            The reason I chose this article was because in my previous article I discussed methods of detecting Babesia microti.   I wanted to write a post about treatments for those who have been infected with the disease.  In my first blog post I also talked about how individuals can often be infected by Babesia microti and Borrelia burgdorferi at the same time.  This article discussed effective methods of individuals who have been co-infected with both parasites.  Since there has been an increase in the number of cases were the two parasites are being transmitted together, it is beneficial to have a drug that responds to both. 

References

Shoemaker, R.C., Hudnell, K.H., House, D.D., Kempen, A.D., Pakes, G.E. 2006.      Atovaquone    

          Plus Cholestrymine in Patients Coinfected With Babesia microti and Borrelia burgdorferi       

          Refractory to Other Treatment. Advances in Therapy.23 (1):1-11