Abstract = in vitro killing of Bb from ***saliva of*** adult Amblyomma americanum.
That is the LONE STAR TICK!
Let's see...put bees on us to sting us or another tick?
Posts: 9424 | From Sunshine State | Registered: Mar 2001
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Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
posted
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I think something is very wrong with their research, something is missing or not everything is considered regarding if the experiment can be reproduced every time for every lone star tick. This experiment is in vitro. In vivo, things may be very different.
While I cannot prove it, I'll bet that the lone star tick can, in fact, infect a person with of any strain of borrelia just as it can spread STARI (or Master's Disease), another spirochetal infection in the borrelia family.
Considering all the other serious infections that any tick can carry, I'd be very cautious about having anything to do with their saliva.
I guess all this looking at tick saliva may bring some understanding but I wish they would focus more right now on tick birth control or sterilization options.
Marnie
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 773
posted
I was curious about their conclusion:
"These studies indicate the borreliacidal activity found in A. americanum saliva
***"is likely due to phospholipase A2 enzymatic activity."***
Scroll down to where I say "So...backing up" if you want to read the "last page first"...
Otherwise...
Which also IS in Bee venom...
This is what triggers phspholipase A2:
Melittin also exhibits potent anti-microbial activity. For example, Melittin has been shown to exert "profound inhibitory effects" on Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacteria that causes lyme disease (Lubke & Garon, 1997). Melittin has also been shown to kill the yeast Candida albicans [2] and to suppress Mycoplasma hominis and Chlamydia trachomatis infections.
Curious:
Contains the active bee venom component Mellitin,
***a pain reliever that is 100 times more potent than cortisone.***
Step #1 = get the inflammatory cytokines down...both of them...TNF alpha and IL1B.
Complex!
Bee venom:
Phospholipase A makes up 12% of the venom, and destroys cells by breaking up phospholipids, the main component of cell membranes.
Lecithinase converts lecithine to lysolecithine (or phospholipase B), which breaks down the membranes of blood cells.
Hyaluronidase (3%) acts as a spreading factor, by breaking down hyaluronic acid, a polysaccharide interstitial fluid in connective tissue.
Mellitin, a 26 amino acid peptide, makes up 50% of the dry weight of bee venom, and acts to destroy blood cells by breaking up their membranes.
It also lowers blood pressure, causes histamine release, and is the main pain-causing component.
Both mellitin and apamin cause the body to release cortisol, a natural steroid, while peptide 401 is a powerful anti-inflammatory agent.
The main amino acids in bee venom are cysteine and methionine, both of which contain sulphur.
Sulphur is important in inducing cortisol release from the adrenal glands. Histamine makes up 0.9% of venom, and causes itching and pain at the site of the sting.
The acids present, which include formic, hydrochloric and orthophosphoric acids, are now believed to be much less important in causing pain than was previously thought."
I'm not too sure about formic acid not being important.
The good old WFL eats insects which are very very high in formic acid. This acid can do severe mitochondrial damage, so the WFL has to have some way to protect its own cells from that acid.
The high level of Ca? Lizards need Ca...lots.
Curious...
"Results: The phospholipase A2 activator mellitin caused morphological alterations and increased release of ***trypsin and amylase***, while vigilin expression and the intracellular content of these enzymes decreased.
Gamma-interferon, a cytokine which is involved at different steps in inflammation processes, selectively inhibits the release of trypsin(ogen) while ***not affecting amylase secretion*** and vigilin expression.
Conclusion: Mellitin as well as gamma interferon causes alterations in pancreatic enzyme secretion. Additionally, mellitin seems to influence the expressed gene pattern of pancreatic acini while interferon- has no effect on protein synthesis but enzyme secretion."
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