Dr. Marna Ericson | New Techniques to Diagnose Dangerous Bartonella Infections

Patients with acute symptoms caused by Bartonella infections may be hospitalized. Acute infections may be found in endocarditis and possibly other conditions. For others, long-term persistent infections can develop, due to the bacteria’s ability to evade the body’s immune response. Because of this ability to evade the immune system, Bartonella belongs to a group of microbes called ‘stealth pathogens’.

Diagnosing Bartonella infection is notoriously challenging, relying on a combination of diagnostic tools that can miss the presence of this stealth bacteria. Developing reliable diagnostic methods is vital for detecting Bartonella and beginning treatment promptly.

Towards this aim, Dr. Marna Ericson from the University of Minnesota and TLab Incorporated in Maryland, Dr. Lynne Bemis from the University of Minnesota Medical School, and their collaborators have been developing innovative technologies to more reliably detect Bartonella infections.

Their advanced imaging techniques use special stains to color distinct parts of skin tissue samples, which can then be viewed in high resolution using powerful microscopes. They couple these imaging techniques with advanced molecular methods to confirm the presence of the bacteria.

Dr. Ericson, Dr. Bemis and their collaborators obtained skin samples from patients with existing Bartonella infections to develop their diagnostic techniques. In addition to physical symptoms, some of these patients suffered from a range of treatment-resistant psychological and neurological symptoms.

Some patients also developed skin lesions on their legs, arms, or backs. The researchers’ findings suggest that the bacteria disrupt the structural skin component collagen, causing scar-like stripes to appear. These Bartonella skin lesions look similar to harmless stretch marks. To distinguish them from stretch marks, the marks caused by the bacteria are called Bartonella Tracks.

Because of the difficulties in detecting Bartonella infections, many of the bacteria’s negative health impacts may still be undiscovered. By applying their diagnostic techniques to malignant melanoma cells, Dr. Ericson and Dr. Bemis found that Bartonella infection may contribute to the development of this cancer.

A combination of genetic predisposition and sun exposure have been recognized as causative factors for malignant melanoma. However, scientists have also suspected the involvement of environmental triggers, such as Bartonella. The team’s discovery of the involvement of Bartonella could be key to better understanding the development and progression of malignant melanoma in some patients.