Question

Researchers inoculated rhesus macaques with live B. burgdorferi into the cisterna magna and either treated them with anti-inflammatory drugs (Dexamethasone or Meloxicam) or left untreated. B. burgdorferi was found in CNS tissue and CSF in all infected macaques, regardless of treatment; however, an increase in proinflammatory cytokines was only seen in untreated and Meloxicam groups. Inflammatory changes seen from histopathological analysis was only seen in untreated and Meloxicam groups as well. These results support that Dexamethasone's immunosuppressive effects were sufficient in reducing inflammatory-induced damaged that is seen in the untreated and Meloxicam groups.

Answer 1

Researchers found that dexamethasone, an anti-inflammatory drug, reduced inflammatory-induced damage in rhesus macaques infected with B. burgdorferi, the bacteria that causes Lyme disease.

Step-by-step explanation:

In this study, researchers inoculated rhesus macaques with live B. burgdorferi (a bacterium that causes Lyme disease) and treated them with different anti-inflammatory drugs or left them untreated.

They found that the presence of B. burgdorferi in the central nervous system (CNS) and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was not affected by the treatment. However, an increase in proinflammatory cytokines (chemicals released during inflammation) and histopathological changes were only observed in the untreated and meloxicam-treated groups. This suggests that dexamethasone, an anti-inflammatory drug, effectively reduced the inflammatory-induced damage seen in the untreated and meloxicam groups.