SAN ANTONIO — Researchers at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) are developing a non-toxic biologic designed to combat Lyme disease. The project focuses on vaccinating reservoir hosts, such as mice and squirrels.

Janakiram Seshu, a professor in the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology in the College of Sciences at UTSA, leads the project. The technology targets reservoir hosts like squirrels, chipmunks, and white-footed mice, instead of humans or pets. "Our entire philosophy is to prevent these small mammals running in the wild from having these pathogens so that they don't have a chance of transmitting them via ticks to humans or dogs," Seshu said.

The research team identified specific surface lipoproteins on Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacterium causing Lyme disease, which aid the pathogen's survival in hosts. These lipoproteins also trigger immune responses that can prevent transmission to ticks. The team developed pathogen-derived biologics, described as oral vaccines, to induce a protective immune response in these reservoir hosts. Venkatesh Kumaresan, an assistant professor of research in the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology at UTSA, said, "We identified that these lipoprotein-based vaccines are highly effective in reducing the bacterial burden both in ticks as well as in the mammals."

Preclinical trials demonstrated a reduction in bacterial loads in host animals, decreasing from 100,000 to approximately 100 after consuming the biologic. The team has filed a provisional patent application for the product. The first release of the product is expected to be in the form of treated bait pellets for residential use. Researchers anticipate these non-toxic pellets will be available to consumers within a few years, following final safety and efficacy reviews.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated 476,000 people in the United States may be diagnosed with and treated for Lyme disease each year. Jolie Starling, a PhD student in molecular microbiology and immunology at UTSA, is engaged in efforts to broaden the vaccine's efficacy to include multiple tick-borne diseases. "I'm working on the triple infection part," Starling said. Seshu emphasized the role of student involvement in the research. "Student training is a very important aspect of what we do," he said. "We want to include our students in all of the things that we do so they understand the full, end-to-end process of discovery, invention and commercialization."