Abstract
It is proposed that peripheral blood fibrocytes will be a new and important player in the pathogenesis of Lyme disease. Peripheral blood fibrocytes are a circulating leukocyte subpopulation that: (a) express collagen; (b) are an abundant source of cytokines, chemoattractants and growth factors; and (c) are able to recruit and activate naive T-cells and memory T-cells. We predict that peripheral blood fibrocytes will represent a new and important antigen-presenting cell which will play an important role in directing the immune response from the pathogenic Th1 to the protective Th2 response cell in Borrelia infections.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 1-10 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Medical Hypotheses |
Volume | 59 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jul 2002 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Developmental Biology
- General Medicine
- Drug Discovery