The purpose of this study was to determine whether dogs develop acquired resistance to adult Ixodes scapularis infestation in an experimental model. Five dogs were each infested with ten mating pairs of ticks every week for 7 consecutive weeks, another five dogs were each infested with ten mating pairs once every 2 weeks for 10 weeks and four dogs served as controls not exposed to ticks. All ticks were allowed to feed to repletion and were collected only after dropping from the host. Several variables were measured to determine the extent of blood feeding success. Regression analysis indicated that the engorgement success, survival and mean tick engorgement weight declined with repeated infestation in both groups of dogs (p < 0.05). Tick oviposition as well as the F1 viability declined with each successive infestation in both groups. These results suggest that repeated infestation with I. scapularis elicits a protective immune response against tick feeding and could serve as a limiting factor in the spread and transmission of Borrelia burgdorferi.
The technique of static headspace gas chromatography (HS-GC) was applied to monitor the emission of hydrogen and carbon dioxide from bacterial cultures to detect bacterial contamination in ticks and the transfer to humans, causing Lyme borreliosis. While the standard serological methods to recognize Lyme-disease rely upon the indirect determination of antibodies, the present method enables the direct proof of bacteria both in ticks and in the blood of infected patients, due to the specific hydrogen emission. Moreover, the progress of an applied therapy can be monitored while antibodies, once created, remain in the blood regardless of whether the applied therapy was successfully finished or not. This method was also used to compare the efficacy of chemical and natural antibiotics. The most efficient natural antibiotics found were oil of cloves and garlic extract preparations. It was found that the duration of a successful therapy with chemical and natural antibiotics varied but can be perfectly monitored by the gas chromatographic technique.
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