Chinese Herbs Show Activity Against Lyme Bacterium

A laboratory study shows that several herbs demonstrate measurable activity against Borrelia burgdorferi, the spirochete responsible for Lyme disease. A spirochete is a type of bacterium distinguished by its long, thin, spiral (corkscrew-shaped) body and unique method of movement. The findings demonstrate that selected herbal extracts reduced the viability of both actively growing and stationary-phase B. burgdorferi, including bacterial forms commonly used to model antibiotic-tolerant persistence. These results indicate that specific plant-derived compounds exert direct biological effects on Borrelia in laboratory culture and warrant further investigation. [1]

The study was conducted by researchers affiliated with Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health (Maryland), FOCUS Health Group (Novato, California), and the California Center for Functional Medicine (Kensington, California). Using standardized microbiological culture methods, the investigators evaluated the antimicrobial activity of twelve botanical extracts against B. burgdorferi in both logarithmic growth and stationary (non-replicating) phases. Stationary-phase organisms exhibit reduced metabolic activity and diminished susceptibility to conventional antibiotics in vitro, making them a commonly used experimental model for bacterial persistence. [1]