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Researchers from the Medical University of Białystok (Monika Groth, Elżbieta Skrzydlewska, Piotr Czupryna, Michał Biernacki, Anna Moniuszko-Malinowska) published the article "Lipid mediators of cerebrospinal fluid in response to TBE and bacterial co-infections" in the journal Free Radical Biology and Medicine. 

Tick-borne diseases are caused by monoinfection or coinfection with various pathogens, including viruses, bacteria, and protozoa. Tick-borne diseases are usually accompanied by oxidative stress, which promotes changes in host lipid metabolism. The aim of the study was to compare the total antioxidant status and the level of lipid mediators in the cerebrospinal fluid in response to tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) and bacterial co-infections causing diseases such as Lyme borreliosis (LB) and human granulocytic anaplasmosis (HGA). Cerebrospinal fluid samples were collected from patients with TBE and co-infection of TBE with LB and/or HGA at admission and after treatment. As a result of the analyzes of the cerebrospinal fluid, it was found that in patients with TBE (monoinfection), the total antioxidant status decreased and was accompanied by an increase in the level of phospholipid oxidation products producing lipid mediators, endocannabinoids and eicosanoids (anti-inflammatory and pro-inflammatory), the levels of which generally decreased after using standard treatment. However, in patients with co-infections, significant changes in the concentrations of some lipid mediators were observed after the end of treatment, which may indicate intensification of metabolic disorders. The results of this study are an introduction to further analyzes on a much larger number of patients. 

The research was financed by the National Science Center grant no. 2017/26/E/NZ6/00277. 

Link to the article: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2023.07.027