Two efforts to develop targeted bartonella specific drugs

bartonella is discussed a great deal here - and seems to be perhaps the hardest infection to treat of all the lyme and co-infections

there is currently no standard of care for chronic bartonella infections - and so all the LLMD's that are treating it do so with their own experimental approaches.
these are typically either:
-generally safer antibiotic combinations - but very long term treatment plans - eg Dr M, Dr SP
or
- more aggressive combinations of higher profile antibiotics - eg Dr H, Dr J

treatment failures are common

in-vitro studies ( eg Zhang et al ) have demonstrated that common bartonella drugs like doxycycline, azithromycin etc have only partial effectiveness when the bacteria are no longer growing logarithmically.

its clear we need more effective and targeted antibiotics for bartonella

i though people here might be interested to hear that there are currently two separate efforts underway by highly respected scientists to find such new effective bartonella treatments

First -
Dr Haystead -and his team at Duke university in the USA has a significant grant to develop a new oral abx specifically for bartonellosis. he has a background in decoding the molecular chemistry of cancer tumours to find specific and effective treatments and aims to bring the same approach to ear on bartonella to produce an all new bartonella specific drug with minimal off target effects - the work is funded by the Cohen foundation - grant date is 2021 to 2025 and i imagine their target in this time it to get to the point of proving efficacy in the lab. Clinical trials are likely to be much more expensive than this and require further investment or funding.
more info here https://scholars.duke.edu/display/gra266389

Secondly -
Dr Rajedas and his team at Harvard university ( the guy who partnered with a couple of USA based LLMD's to pioneer the use of Disulfiram for Lyme) - is targeting a large drug screening program for drugs with efficacy against bartonella. This is being done entirely through patient funding via his non-profit company Bioneomed. i understand they will prioritise already FDA approved drugs to allow swifter time to market.
funding is incomplete for this work and donations are needed to allow it to continue.

i fully understand if you are not in a position to give to this cause - or even if you feel us patients who already suffer physically and financially should not have to contribute - but the reality is that if patients do not contribute it will not happen -
if you do decide to contribute, please note you can give any amount large or small and it can be a one time payment or monthly - whichever you prefer. Even $10 a year from those here that can afford it will make a difference.
it is encouraging to note that all support admin etc is done by volunteers and 95% of all funds go directly to the research. this is way more than most non-profits/charities.
the link to the website to donate is here

https://www.bioneomed.org/donate-now

just thought this may give some hope to those that have been treating for years but are still sick

and also in particular the project by Dr Rajedas needs all the visibility it can get in order to secure enough financial support to keep moving forward - so thought this would be a way to do that.

Post Edited (Garzie) : 4/17/2022 10:52:52 AM (GMT-6)

Dr Rajadas is past the high throughput drug screening phase. He may still be doing this but the drug candidate that came up so far as most potent against bartonella (and 2nd best behind DSF for lyme) is azlocillin. Azlocillin has been shown to be 'cidal' against bartonella and has a benign side effect profile. The main issue is that it is not intracellular, only available in IV form, and I believe it's not available in the US or Europe.

So the upcoming drug trial Dr Rajadas and others are in the process of launching is for a liposomal (pharma grade liposomes not lecithin) oral form of the azlocillin. The drug is ready for formulation. The trial is going to require substantially more funding than has been raised. There has been some other additional government red tape that needs to be overcome. I am enlisted as a subject in the trial.

Oh I know all about the monstrous herxheimer when you kill bartonella.

There were days when I spent hours laying on the bathroom floor in pain, so I could reach the toilet when the next bout of diarrhea hit. It smelled like death too.

JaSon2233 said...
Dr Rajadas is past the high throughput drug screening phase. He may still be doing this but the drug candidate that came up so far as most potent against bartonella (and 2nd best behind DSF for lyme) is azlocillin. Azlocillin has been shown to be 'cidal' against bartonella and has a benign side effect profile. The main issue is that it is not intracellular, only available in IV form, and I believe it's not available in the US or Europe.

So the upcoming drug trial Dr Rajadas and others are in the process of launching is for a liposomal (pharma grade liposomes not lecithin) oral form of the azlocillin. The drug is ready for formulation. The trial is going to require substantially more funding than has been raised. There has been some other additional government red tape that needs to be overcome. I am enlisted as a subject in the trial.

Interesting. Thanks for the info!

Is the trial still enrolling? What are the qualifications to enter?

@tickbite666: Did you try oregano oil, methylene blue, fenbendazole yet? Some of those might be helpful in case of Bart. If you're into antibiotics - did you try Biaxin?

Thanx for feedback Quin and wladek83.

I have tried everything under the sun except methylene blue and fenbendazole w-83, and my LLMD is not comfortable with Ivermectin and Dapsone and the other "D" Girlie and others have taken. I've also done the full gambit of Buhner herbs including JK, Cats claw, Hout, Crypto, Sida, Isatus (sp?), Alconia, etc.

Here's my full list of treatment protocols without herbs used in parallel from 2012 thru 2019.

4/10/22 to Present: Gabapentin, Plaquenil, Bactrim DS and heart meds.
3/29/22 to 4/9/22: Gabapentin, Plaquenil, Rifabutin, Bactrim DS and heart meds.
2/1/22 to 3/28/22: Plaquenil, Rifabutin, Bactrim DS and heart meds.
12/3/21 to 2/1/22: Rifabutin, Bactrim DS and heart meds.
9/21/21 to 12/2/21: Tetra, Bactrim DS and heart meds.
7/7/21 to 9/19/21: Tetracycline 2 wks on/off, then full time Aug thru Sept, Baby aspirin and heart meds.
6/5/21 to 7/6/21: Baby aspirin and heart meds.
5/15/21 to 6/4/21: IM Bicillin, Baby aspirin and heart meds.
4/19/21 to 5/14/21: Baby aspirin and heart meds.
3/17/21 to 4/18/21: DSF re-started at 250mg, increased to 375mg 4/5; with baby aspirin and heart meds.
10/16/20 to 3/16/21: Baby Aspirin, Heart and Stint Meds
9/28/20 to 10/15/20: Ceftin, Baby Aspirin, Heart and Stint Meds
7/14/20 to 9/27/20: Disulfiram 250mg 6/25, Ceftin, Baby Aspirin, Heart and Stint Meds
1/26/20 to 7/13/20: Disulfiram (started 62.5mg, 375mg 2/26, 500mg 5/24), Baby Aspirin, Heart and Stint Meds
1/21/20 to 1/25/20: Bactrim DS, Biaxin, Baby Aspirin, Heart and Stint Meds.
10/20/19 to 1/20/20: Malarone, Bactrim DS, Biaxin, Nystatin. Baby Aspirin, Heart and Stint Meds.
9/26/19 to 10/20/19: Alinia (x2) Bactrim DS, Biaxin, Nystatin. Baby Aspirin, Heart and Stint Meds change.
8/13/19 to 9/25/19: Alinia (x2) Bactrim DS, Nystatin. Baby Aspirin, Heart and Stint Meds started.
4/20/19 to 8/12/19: Alinia (x2), Bactrim DS, Biaxin, Nystatin, Lipo OoO (ran out 5/2019), LDN (ran out 7/2019)
4/9/19 to 4/19/19: Alinia (x2), Rifampin, Biaxin, Nystatin, Liposomal Oil of Oregano, LDN full time
10/18/18 to 4/8/19: Alinia, Rifampin, Biaxin, Nystatin, Liposomal Oil of Oregano, LDN full time
7/9/18 to 10/17/18: Alinia, Rifampin, Biaxin, Nystatin, Liposomal Oil of Oregano full time
3/12/18 to 7/8/18: Tetra, Diflucan, Alinia, Oregano 2 week on/3 week off pulse.
11/18/17 to 3/11/18: Tetra, Diflucan, Alinia 2 week on/3 week off pulse, added Liposomal Oil of Oregano
7/24/17 to 11/17/17: Tetra, Diflucan, Alinia 2 week on/3 week off pulse
7/1/17 to 7/9/17: Tetra 2 week pulse, ran out 7/9/17
6/14/17 to 6/30/17: Tetra, Alinia (ran-out) 2 week on/off pulse
5/27/17 to 6/13/17: Tetra, Diflucan, Alinia 2 week on/off pulse
5/1/17 to 5/26/17: Tetra, Diflucan, Alinia 2 week on/off pulse, continue Famvir full time
4/17/17 to 4/30/17: Ceftin and Bactrim full time after bite, added Tetracyline, continued Famvir
11/24/16 to 4/16/17: Pulse Ceftin and Bactrim 2 weeks on/off. Added Famvir fulltime.
9/24/16 to 11/23/16: Pulse Ceftin and Bactrim 2 weeks on/off.
7/28/16 to 9/23/16: Pulse Ceftin, Bactrim, Diflucan 2 weeks on/off.
7/7/16 to 7/27/16: Pulse Ceftin and Bactrim 2 weeks on/off. No refills left for Alinia
5/9/16 to 7/6/16: Pulse Ceftin and Bactrim 2 weeks on/off, Alinia full time
2/29/16 to 5/7/16: Nystatin, Cipro, and Plaquenil full time; pulse Ceftin 2 weeks on/off
2/15/16 to 2/28/16: Crypto, Nystatin, Cipro, Tetracycline, Plaquenil full time, no pulse.
12/7/15 to 2/14/16: Crypto, Nystatin, Cipro, Tetracycline, Plaquenil. ABX pulsed 2 weeks on/off
11/26/15 to 12/6/15: Rx Cryptolepis, Nystatin
9/23/15 to 11/25/15: Rx Cryptolepis, Cipro, Tetracycline, Plaquenil, Nystatin (liquid)
7/31/15 to 9/17/15: Rx Cryptolepis, Cipro, Minocycline
7/18/15 to 7/30/15: Rx Cryptolepis, Cipro
5/21/15 to 7/17/15: Rx Cryptolepis
4/16/15 to 5/15/15: Diflucan
3/19/15 to 4/15/15: Nystatin
2/1/15 to 3/18/15: Minocycline, Nystatin
12/17/14 to 2/1/15: Minocycline, Plaquenil, Nystatin
12/09/14 to 12/16/14: Plaquenil, Nystatin,
11/19/14 to 12/8/14: Plaquenil, Nystatin, Levaquin
11/12/14 to 11/18/14: Plaquenil, Nystatin, Minocycline
10/10/14 to 11/11/14: Plaquenil, Nystatin, Diflucan
9/8/14 to 10/9/14: Minocycline, Plaquenil, Nystatin
8/4/14 to 9/7/14: Minocycline, Plaquenil, Nystatin, Valtrex
7/8/14 to 8/3/14: Plaquenil, Nystatin, Valtrex
6/8/14 to 7/7/14: Minocycline, Plaquenil, Nystatin, Valtrex
4/19/14 to 6/7/14: Minocycline, Plaquenil, Nystatin
4/2/14 to 4/18/14: Doxycycline, Plaquenil, Nystatin
3/10/15 to 4/1/14: Coartem (last dose taken 3/26/14 am), Nystatin
2/6/14 to 3/6/14: Doxycycline, Plaquenil, Rifampin, Nystatin
11/23/13 to 2/5/14: Minocycline, Plaquenil, Rifampin, Nystatin
11/9/13 to 11/22/13: Minocycline, Plaquenil, Rifampin
10/30/13 to 11/4/13: Minocycline, Plaquenil, Parastroy,
10/20/13 to 10/29/13: Minocycline, Parastroy
10/11/13 to10/19/13: Diflucan, Parastroy
9/21/13 to 10/6/13: Coartem
8/16/13 to 9/20/13: Oral Minocycline, Bactrim DS, Alinia, Diflucan
5/23/13 to 8/15/13: Oral Minocycline, Bactrim DS, Tindamax, Alinia
4/1/13 to 5/22/13: Oral Minocycline, Bactrim DS, Tindamax
3/8/13 to 3/30/13: IV Doxycycline, Bactrim DS, Tindamax
2/5/13 to 3/7/13: Zithromax, IV Doxycycline, Mepron x2, Bactrim DS, Tindamax
1/21/13 to 2/5/13: Zithromax, IV Doxycycline, Actigall, Mepron x2, Bactrim DS, Tindamax
10/29/12 to 1/20/13: Zithromax, IV Rocephin (2x/4 days/wk), Actigall, Mepron x2, Bactrim DS, Tindamax
9/12/12 to 10/29/12: Zithromax, IV Rocephin (2x/4 days/wk), Actigall, Mepron x2, Bactrim DS
8/25/12 to 9/11/12: Zithromax, IV Rocephin (2x/4 days/wk), Actigall, Mepron x2
6/30/12 to 8/24/12: Zithromax, IV Rocephin (2x/4 days/wk), Actigall, Mepron x2, Diflucan
6/22/12 to 6/29/12: Zithromax, IV Rocephin (2x/4 days/wk), Actigall, Mepron x2
4/19/12 to 6/21/12: Zithromax, IV Rocephin (2x/4 days/wk), Actigall, Mepron, Bactrim DS
2/27/12 to 4/19/12: Zithromax, IV Rocephin (2x/4 days/wk), Actigall, Mepron
2/21/12 to 2/26/12: Zithromax, IV Rocephin (2x/4 days/wk, 3 days off pulse), Actigall, Rifampin
1/17/12 to 2/20/12: Zithromax, IV Rocephin (1x/day), Actigall, Rifampin
12/19/11 to 1/16/12: Zithromax, IV Rocephin (1x/day), Actigall
10/11/11 to 12/9/11: Zithromax, Doxycycline, Rifampin (STOPPED all due to elevated ALT/AST)
9/18/11 to 10/11/11: Zithromax, Augmentin, Rifampin
8/24/11 to 9/17/11: Zithromax, Augmentin, Mepron
6/29/11 to 8/23/11: Zithromax, Suprax, Mepron
5/10/11 to 6/28/11: Zithromax, Omnicef, Mepron
3/31/11 to 5/9/11: Zithromax, Omnicef
3/25/11 to 3/30/11: Biaxin, Plaquenil
3/18/11 to 3/24/11: Biaxin, Plaquenil, Diflucan
3/8/11 to 3/17/11: Biaxin, Plaquenil
11/4/10 to 3/7/11: Tetracycline
3/11/10 to 11/3/10: Biaxin, Plaquenil

I need to start a 30day course of Diflucan first then decide my next round of Rx. Funds are limited since on SS retirement, just need to get back to 85% again and live with the rest,

Post Edited (tickbite666) : 4/18/2022 6:22:10 PM (GMT-6)

Tickbite: “ I see my LLMD on Thursday to check in and discuss next protocol. Do you think that four months of Rifabutin was enough of a trial period? I may switch back to Rifampin, or go back on Cipro again regardless of the black box risks.

Thoughts anyone?”


I would think by 4 months you would be herxing and/or have some improvement in at least a one symptom.
And I would likely be willing to try the Cipro - even with the black box warning .

Tickbite - there is also gentamicin

I think if you can tolerate (I could not due to severe herxing) Dr M's clarithro + rifampin --> rifabatin protocol is the best shot we currently have at eradicating bart.

Thanks you all for your input and suggestions. Clarithro was on my list to replace Biaxin, and possibly working Meth Blue into the mix since I've never used it. I'll also discuss fenbendazole with LLMD and see if she has Rx'd it in the past. She has been treated for Lyme and Bart, but not for Babs which she feels is dormant state and don't want to awaken the beast.

I did consider that my worsening sx in March could have been a herx or bart getting pissed off from the Rifabutin. I'ld be willing to go back on it, or replace it Rifampin at a much lower cost per month.

RainyCloud, "8/16/13 to 9/20/13: Oral Minocycline, Bactrim DS, Alinia, Diflucan" was used early in my treatment just after a long period on IV. I was about 50% well at that point, but was searching for something to get me over the hump. I didn't see any significant improvements until a few years later. then weaned off ABX free for 2-3 months using only herbals for maintenance, but relapsed. Cipro combos helped get me back and up to 85 well. DSF gave me the biggest boost but I ended up in hospital after fainting in public areas twice while on the protocol.

thanks. I'll egt back after Thrusday appointment

Biaxin and clarithromycin are the same thing.

Clarithromycin inhibits CYP3A4, which rifampin induces. Some people think that this cancels out the effect of rifampin but that's not really accurate. When you inhibit this enzyme, the liver just ends up producing more of it, and this leads to a rebound effect. It ultimately just makes the rifampin problem worse, and was constantly messing with my sodium/potassium and blood pressure in an annoying way.

Bartonella also easily becomes resistant to clarithromycin. I found that atovaquone could counter this resistance somewhat. Maybe you could experiment with metformin, as Jason suggests in the other thread. Ultimately I switched to minocycline which bart was not resistant to.

I'm really curious about people's experience with methylene blue. There seems to be a lot of interest in it, but I see very few success stories.

@tickbite666: That's a long list of failed treatments. Did those things just not work, or did you discontinue due to side effects or cost?

Quin:

"@tickbite666: That's a long list of failed treatments. Did those things just not work, or did you discontinue due to side effects or cost?"

I look at it being slow progress, plus I switched LLMD's after the first year to seek more aggressive treatment for co's. I probably wasted too much time on IV's, then we thought I had a resistant form of Babs and treated accordingly. This got me to about 50% well after four years. Then we addressed Bart more aggressively on eventually got over the hump and maybe up to 80% healed. Then weaned off ABX, but stayed on herbs, for 3 months before relapsing.

After another few years of treatment ending with 9 months of DSF I got to maybe 90% well again. After 5 months of being off all ABX I had some prostate issues that triggered another relapse. I was pretty tolerant to most all ABX, except for Levoquin caused tendon issues after 16 days and I stopped. But I later tried Cipro long term without problems.

I just haven't found the right combination to get Bart under control and when I finally do, I'll stay on some level of maintenance ABX for the rest of my days. I retired about 2 years ago, so funds are somewhat limited and don't want to drain retirement money too fast.

Okay thanks got it.

The MB seems to have a direct irritating effect on the bladder. My pee is bright blue and burns the urethra. No other bart treatment has caused this for me. It happened less with the liposomal form from Hopkinton - but they are stringy ab dosing. Infuserve has non liposomal MB that your doctor can get higher doses. For some reason that version was more irritating,

The intracellular bartonella is potentially solveable. I killed bart with a combination of valproate and minocycline. Valproate doesn't kill bart outright, but it irritates it enough that it comes out of hiding. When I would then kill it with mino, I got very dark urine (bilirubin) which suggests that the bartonella was invading red blood cells at the time, as that's where bilirubin comes from.

Arguably that's where you want to kill the bartonella, as red blood cells are more easily replaced than the other tissues that it invades.

There's still the herx problem, and valproate has black box warnings for liver damage and not to use it if you could become pregnant. I had blood tests when I was taking it and my liver enzymes were fine, but there is a risk.

It would be good if someone could research what the mechanism of action is and maybe find a safer drug that would have the same effect.