Abstract
The central nervous system has traditionally been considered as an immune-privileged site, largely due to a lack of lymphatic draining and low levels of immune surveillance (Carson et al. 2006). It is therefore tempting to speculate that spirochetes have evolved to home to, among other organs, the central nervous system (CNS), as a strategy for immune evasion. While it is possible that the adaptive immune response to Borrelia burgdorferi may be slower and less effective in the CNS than it is in the periphery, an area of research that remains largely to be studied, this spirochete elicits a powerful innate, pro-inflammatory response in nervous system glial cells. How this response may contribute to Lyme neuroborreliosis pathogenesis is the subject of this chapter.
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Philipp, M.T., Ramesh, G., Parthasarathy, G. (2012). Neuroborreliosis Caused by Borrelia burgdorferi: Possible Role of Glial Cells. In: Embers, M. (eds) The Pathogenic Spirochetes: strategies for evasion of host immunity and persistence. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5404-5_10
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