Understanding Post-Treatment Lyme Disease: What Predicts PTLD and How to Identify At-Risk Patients
Official title: Determinants of Post-Treatment Phenotypes in Lyme Disease
Funded at Johns Hopkins University · NIH-11360571 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This NIH grant looks at why some people recover after Lyme treatment while others develop lingering symptoms, and aims to create a clinical score to identify those at higher risk.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Johns Hopkins University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Baltimore, United States) |
| Project start | July 1, 2023 |
| Project end | June 30, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $608,082 |
| NIH project number | 5R01AI178726-04 |
| Project ID | NIH-11360571 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
People who have or have had Lyme disease, especially those experiencing lingering symptoms after standard antibiotic treatment.
✕Less likely to help
People who fully recover after Lyme treatment or those with Lyme but no PTLD symptoms may not directly benefit from the risk-prediction tools.
What this research studies
If you’ve been treated for Lyme disease but still have symptoms afterward, this project aims to uncover the clinical and biological factors that distinguish those who recover from those who develop PTLD. The researchers will study groups of people with PTLD, healthy individuals, and people with early Lyme disease followed for a year after treatment, using advanced statistical and laboratory methods. The goal is to translate findings into practical tools that clinicians can use to predict PTLD risk and guide care. They will also look for new autoantibodies that may be linked to PTLD to better understand the disease process.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the study could help doctors predict PTLD risk and tailor follow-up care to prevent or mitigate long-term symptoms.
How similar studies have gone: Previous work suggests variability in immune and metabolic factors may influence PTLD, but a comprehensive predictive model and validation are still needed.
Where this research is happening
-
Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Aucott, John — Johns Hopkins University
- Study coordinator: Aucott, John
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
-
Understanding why some people have ongoing symptoms after Lyme disease
A long-term study follows people diagnosed with acute Lyme disease to see who develops persistent symptoms and why, with care from a team of Lyme experts.
-
CSF Protein Map in Post-Treatment Lyme Disease
A short study to map proteins in spinal fluid of people who had Lyme disease and still feel sick after standard treatment, to understand what’s going on.
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Lyme disease vaccine research aimed at preventing infection
Researchers are developing a Lyme disease vaccine by studying how the immune system responds to Borrelia burgdorferi and testing vaccine approaches to prevent illness.
-
Lyme disease brain health: tracking brain signals and blood clues after treatment
This study follows people with early Lyme disease and compares them to healthy volunteers to see how the brain and blood markers change over a year after starting antibiotics.
-
Lyme disease symptoms lingering after treatment may be driven by special bacterial fragments
A human-friendly look at a study exploring why some Lyme patients keep symptoms after antibiotics and whether tiny fragments from the bacteria are to blame.
-
Understanding Lyme disease immune signals to predict recovery after antibiotics
A research project at MIT aims to find immune biomarkers that tell which Lyme patients will recover after standard antibiotics and who might have lasting symptoms.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.