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Biology

University of New Haven

Morgellons disease

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Canine Filamentous Dermatitis Associated With Borrelia Infection, Marianne J. Middelveen, Gheorghe M. Rotaru, Jody L. Mcmurray, Katherine R. Filush, Eva Sapi, Jennie Burke, Agustin Franco, Lorenzo Malquori, Melissa C. Mcelroy, Raphael B. Stricker Oct 2016

Canine Filamentous Dermatitis Associated With Borrelia Infection, Marianne J. Middelveen, Gheorghe M. Rotaru, Jody L. Mcmurray, Katherine R. Filush, Eva Sapi, Jennie Burke, Agustin Franco, Lorenzo Malquori, Melissa C. Mcelroy, Raphael B. Stricker

Biology and Environmental Science Faculty Publications

Background: Although canine clinical manifestations of Lyme disease vary widely, cutaneous manifestations are not well documented in dogs. In contrast, a variety of cutaneous manifestations are reported in human Lyme disease caused by the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi. A recently recognized dermopathy associated with tickborne illness known as Morgellons disease is characterized by brightly-colored filamentous inclusions and projections detected in ulcerative lesions and under unbroken skin. Recent studies have demonstrated that the dermal filaments are collagen and keratin biofibers produced by epithelial cells in response to spirochetal infection. We now describe a similar filamentous dermatitis in canine Lyme disease. Methods and …


Association Of Spirochetal Infection With Morgellons Disease, Marianne J. Middelveen, Divya Burugu, Akhila Poruri, Jennie Burke, Peter J. Mayne, Eva Sapi, Douglas G. Kahn, Raphael B. Stricker Jan 2013

Association Of Spirochetal Infection With Morgellons Disease, Marianne J. Middelveen, Divya Burugu, Akhila Poruri, Jennie Burke, Peter J. Mayne, Eva Sapi, Douglas G. Kahn, Raphael B. Stricker

Biology and Environmental Science Faculty Publications

Morgellons disease (MD) is an emerging multisystem illness characterized by skin lesions with unusual filaments embedded in or projecting from epithelial tissue. Filament formation results from abnormal keratin and collagen expression by epithelial-based keratinocytes and fibroblasts. Recent research comparing MD to bovine digital dermatitis, an animal infectious disease with similar skin features, provided clues that spirochetal infection could play an important role in the human disease as it does in the animal illness. Based on histological staining, immunofluorescent staining, electron microscopic imaging and polymerase chain reaction, we report the detection of Borrelia spirochetes in dermatological tissue of four randomly-selected MD …