HCQ + Macrolide for Bb - Brorsons

[Guest guest]

I haven't looked at the whole article because it costs $30 to get it,

but the Brorsons don't seem to share Donta's theory about HCQ being of

use with macrolides merely because it changes pH.

- Kate D.

1: Int Microbiol. 2002 Mar;5(1):25-31.

 

An in vitro study of the susceptibility of mobile and cystic forms of

Borrelia burgdorferi to hydroxychloroquine.

Brorson O, Brorson SH.

Department of Microbiology, Vestfold Sentralsykehus, Tonsberg, Norway.

In this work the susceptibility of mobile and cystic forms of Borrelia

burgdorferi to hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) was studied. The minimal

bactericidal concentration (MBC) of HCQ against the mobile spirochetes

was > 32 microg/ml at 37 degrees C, and > 128 microg/ml at 30 degrees

C. Incubation with HCQ significantly reduced the conversion of mobile

spirochetes to cystic forms. When incubated at 37 degrees C, the MBC

for young biologically active cysts (1-day old) was > 8 microg/ml, but

it was > 32 microg/ml for old cysts (1-week old). Acridine orange

staining, dark-field microscopy and transmission electron microscopy

revealed that the contents of the cysts were partly degraded when the

concentration of HCQ was > or = MBC. At high concentrations of HCQ (256

microg/ml) about 95% of the cysts were ruptured. When the concentration

of HCQ was > or = MBC, core structures did not develop inside the

cysts, and the amount of RNA in these cysts decreased significantly.

Spirochetal structures inside the cysts dissolved in the presence of

high concentrations of HCQ. When the concentration of HCQ was > or =

MBC, the core structures inside the cysts were eliminated. These

observations may be valuable in the treatment of resistant infections

caused by B. burgdorferi, and suggest that a combination of HCQ and a

macrolide antibiotic could eradicate both cystic and mobile forms of B.

burgdorferi.

PMID: 12102233 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]