Determinants of persistent symptoms after treatment for Lyme borreliosis: a prospective observational cohort study.
Publication year
2023Source
Ebiomedicine, 98, (2023), pp. 104825, article 104825ISSN
Annotation
01 december 2023
Publication type
Article / Letter to editor
Display more detailsDisplay less details
Organization
Internal Medicine
Journal title
Ebiomedicine
Volume
vol. 98
Page start
p. 104825
Subject
Radboudumc 4: lnfectious Diseases and Global Health Internal Medicine; Radboud University Medical CenterAbstract
BACKGROUND: Patients treated for Lyme borreliosis (LB) frequently report persistent symptoms. Little is known about risk factors and etiology. METHODS: In a prospective observational cohort study with a follow-up of one year, we assessed a range of microbiological, immunological, genetic, clinical, functional, epidemiological, psychosocial and cognitive-behavioral variables as determinants of persistent symptoms after treatment for LB. Between 2015 and 2018 we included 1135 physician-confirmed LB patients at initiation of antibiotic therapy, through clinical LB centers and online self-registration. Two reference cohorts of individuals without LB (n = 4000 and n = 2405) served as a control. Prediction analyses and association studies were used to identify determinants, as collected from online questionnaires (three-monthly) and laboratory tests (twice). FINDINGS: Main predictors of persistent symptoms were baseline poorer physical and social functioning, higher depression and anxiety scores, more negative illness perceptions, comorbidity, as well as fatigue, cognitive impairment, and pain in 295 patients with persistent symptoms. The primary prediction model correctly indicated persistent symptoms in 71.0% of predictions (AUC 0.79). In patients with symptoms at baseline, cognitive-behavioral responses to symptoms predicted symptom persistence. Of various microbiological, immunological and genetic factors, only lower IL-10 concentrations in ex vivo stimulation experiments were associated with persistent symptoms. Clinical LB characteristics did not contribute to the prediction of persistent symptoms. INTERPRETATION: Determinants of persistent symptoms after LB were mainly generic, including baseline functioning, symptoms and cognitive-behavioral responses. A potential role of host immune responses remains to be investigated. FUNDING: Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development (ZonMw); the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS).
This item appears in the following Collection(s)
- Academic publications [245012]
- Electronic publications [132296]
- Faculty of Medical Sciences [93198]
- Open Access publications [105919]
Upload full text
Use your RU credentials (u/z-number and password) to log in with SURFconext to upload a file for processing by the repository team.