TRANSMISSION OF LYME DISEASE
Transmission of Borrelia burgdorferi from Experimentally Infected
Mating Pairs to Offspring in a Murine Model

S.S. Altaie1,3, S. Mookherjee2 E. Assian2, F. Al-Taie2, S.M. Nakeeb3, and S.Y. Siddiqui3.
1CDER, FDA, Rockville, MD, 2CHOB, Buffalo, NY, 3State University of New York at Buffalo, NY

In an effort to develop a murine model for studying other modes of transmission of B. burgdorferi (Bb), we started with the well studied C3H/HeJ mouse. Splenectomized 6-8 week-old mice were divided into 4 groups. Groups A, B, and C had 23, 24, and 26 mating pairs respectively. Prior to mating, in group A Females, in group B males, and in group C both males & females were infected subcutaneously with 10 to the 6th to10 to the 7th (Bb) in 250 ml SKB II media. The control group D had 12 mating pairs in which both males & females received sterile media. The resulting pups were sacrificed at 1, 7, 14, and 21 days of age. Milk content of the stomach, sections from ear, skin, heart, liver, spleen, brain, bladder, and kidney of the 1, 7, and 14 day-old pups were cultured for Bb. The above-mentioned tissues except milk were also cultured from sacrificed 21 day-old weanlings. Transmission to offspring was indicated when Bb was isolated from any tissue from a given pup. From the experimentally infected females in which the milk was cultured, 2 (8%) transmitted Bb to their pups on day one via their milk. Among 49 infected females from groups A and C, 5 (10.2%) transmitted Bb to their pups either in utero or intrapartum. Four of the litters from the mating pairs in group B (in which only males had been inoculated) had infected pups. These results indicate that Bb can transmit by other modes than the tick bite. The described mouse model with further modifications may provide a tool for studying such transmission modes and treatment strategies.

1996 FDA Science Forum – Altaie Abstract # I-17. Transmission of Borrelia burgdorferi from Experimentally Infected Mating Pairs to Offsprings in a Murine Model.
vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~frf/forum96/altaie.htm –