Compiled by Debra Scherban. Please send items to dscherban@gazettenet.com.
The Laboratory of Medical Zoology at the University of Massachusetts is joining L2 Diagnostics, a biotech company of New Haven, Connecticut, to further studies on a test the company has developed for Borrelia miyamotoi, one of the latest tick pathogens to emerge.
A two-year, $600,000 small-business grant from NIH will support the research.
“There are currently no validated and/or FDA approved tests for this pathogen in people,” says Stephen Rich, professor of microbiology at UMass and LMZ director.
The researchers will conduct testing on people who submit ticks to the TickReport service that has been offered by the UMass lab.
“This opportunity builds on one of TickReport’s strengths,” Rich says, which is the short window between a tick bite and when the TickReport provides test results.
People who have sent ticks that test positive for B. miyamotoi-positive will be invited to participate in the new study. They will then be visited at their homes by a clinician who will take blood samples for further testing.
B. miyamotoi is a tick-transmitted bacterium recently shown to cause infection in the United States, Europe and Asia. A member of the relapsing fever group of Borrelia, the pathogen causes flu-like symptoms: fever, fatigue, aches, pains and headache. In immune-compromised patients, it can be severe and involve the central nervous system.
The L2 Diagnostics researchers who have developed the test for B. miyamotoi infection will analyze serum samples from infected patients. “A major goal in addition to characterizing the extent of the disease is to open the way to regulatory approval of the new test, Rich says.
For more: https://www.tickreport.com
A team of environmental chemists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst report in the current issue of Environmental Science & Technology that triclosan, an antibacterial agent in some over-the-counter toothpastes, accumulates in toothbrush bristles and is easily released in the mouth if the user switches toothpaste types.
Baoshan Xing, a professor in UMass Amherst’s Stockbridge School of Agriculture, points out that triclosan is not found as an active ingredient in all toothpastes but only in those marketed as antibacterial.
In September 2016, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned triclosan from use in over-the-counter antibacterial liquid and bar soaps, gels and wipes, but it is allowed in toothpastes. Triclosan is said to be effective in preventing gingivitis or gum disease.
The FDA says on its web page that some short-term animal studies have shown that exposure to high doses of triclosan is associated with a decrease in the levels of some thyroid hormones. But the significance of those findings to human health is unknown. Other studies have raised concerns that chronic triclosan exposure contributes to antibiotic resistance in bacteria, but again, the FDA points out that not enough information is available.
Xing and his researchers found toothpaste containing triclosan accumulates in nylon bristles of toothbrushes and other soft toothbrush parts, where it stays unless the user switches to a non-triclosan toothpaste. In that case, the triclosan held in the bristles readily comes out with each brushing, exposing the user to triclosan at unregulated doses, Xing says.
He adds that while he and his colleagues do not consider oral exposure to triclosan toothpastes a health risk. “We just want to make people aware that certain toothpaste chemicals can accumulate to substantial levels as they brush, and consumers can make up their own minds.”
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