February 26, 2011, Greenwich, CT - Through "protein profiling" of spinal fluid, a new research study shows that healthy individuals, certain Lyme disease patients with persistent neurologic symptoms, and chronic fatigue syndrome patients possess different proteins in their cerebrospinal fluid. This finding provides evidence that chronic fatigue syndrome and neurologic Lyme disease are distinct disease entities.

“The potential for spinal fluid biomarker detection to aid or actually establish diagnosis of Lyme disease is within our grasp,” according to Dr. Harriet Kotsoris, Medical Director for Time for Lyme, a Connecticut based non-profit organization that has been funding research for Lyme and tick-borne diseases since 2002 and has raised nearly $5 million to date.

The research was led by Dr. Steven E. Schutzer of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-New Jersey Medical School, and Drs. Thomas Angel, Tao Liu, and Richard D. Smith of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. The study, “Distinct Cerebrospinal Fluid Proteomes Differentiate Post-Treatment Lyme Disease from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome” is published in the February 23rd issue of PLoS ONE. Time for Lyme provided funds for the study along with the National Institutes of Health among other organizations.

Dr. Kotsoris also notes that this study exemplifies the key role collaboration plays in research funding among a wide variety of public and private institutions.

Click here for more information on the published study results.