Human Sweat Could Fight Lyme Disease: The Hidden Protein Hero

 

Lyme disease is a severe sickness transmitted by ticks and caused by the bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi. It leads to severe health issues if not treated. Recently, researchers have discovered a protein known as SCGB1D2 in the human sweat that can fight this disease.

By comparing 617,731 and 25,355 individuals with Lyme disease from the FinnGen and the Estonian Biobank study respectively, researchers identified that SCGB1D2 is associated with Lyme disease and a genetic polymorphism involving the SCGB1D2 gene, specifically the variant named P53L. This led the researchers to discover whether it could shield us from disease causing bacteria that cause Lyme disease. SCGB1D2 is part of a Secretoglobin family of proteins that resides in tissues that form a barrier in our body, such as the respiratory tract. It is predominantly expressed in skin and sweat glands. Approximately 40% of the participants in this study carried a mutated version of the SCGB1D2 gene. This variation made people more vulnerable to the occurrence of Lyme disease.

Both in vitro and in vivo models support the role of SCGB1D2 as a protector against Lyme disease. In a lab dish, the researchers tested the SCGB1D2 protein against Borrelia burgdorferi and the efficacy of this protein was tested in an animal model. About twice the concentration of the variant SCGB1D2 P53L was required to achieve comparable levels of inhibition as the reference SCGB1D2 protein. The mice that were prophylactically incubated and co-injected with SCGB1D2 showed no signs of Borrelia burgdorferi infection or dissemination in the mice until day 10. This implies that the protein requires it to maintain its natural conformation to effectively counter Lyme disease. Further, it revealed that the modification in the SCGB1D2 protein decreases the efficiency in inhibiting the Lyme bacteria.

Identification of the relationship between SCGB1D2 and combating Lyme disease is a breakthrough in the learning of the innate protective mechanism. Also, it offers the opportunity to create new avenues to take preventive and curative measures against Lyme disease. Further studies are expected to build up the efficacy of SCGB1D2 and to investigate the use of this protein in therapy and pharmacology.

Reference:

Strausz S, Abner E, Blacker G, Galloway S, Hansen P, Feng Q, Lee BT, Jones SE, Haapaniemi H, Raak S, Nahass GR. SCGB1D2 inhibits growth of Borrelia burgdorferi and affects susceptibility to Lyme disease. Nature Communications. 2024 Mar 19;15(1):2041. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-45983-9

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