ArticleF1000Research2013
Association of spirochetal infection with Morgellons disease.
Article in F1000Research, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 29 citations in OpenAlex.
- Borrelia burgdorferi-Induced Neuroinflammation in Lyme Disease: A Potential Driver of Alzheimer's Disease Pathology?Molecular neurobiology · 2026Review
- Classification and Staging of Morgellons Disease: Lessons from Syphilis.Clinical, cosmetic and investigational dermatology · 2020Article
- MixedHealthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2019Article
- Clinical evaluation of Morgellons disease in a cohort of North American patients.Dermatology reports · 2018Article
- Persistent Borrelia Infection in Patients with Ongoing Symptoms of Lyme Disease.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2018Article
- Reframing delusional infestation: perspectives on unresolved puzzles.Psychology research and behavior management · 2018Review
- Detection of tick-borne infection in Morgellons disease patients by serological and molecular techniques.Clinical, cosmetic and investigational dermatology · 2018Article
- History of Morgellons disease: from delusion to definition.Clinical, cosmetic and investigational dermatology · 2018Review
- Morgellons Disease.Annals of dermatology · 2017Article
- Detection of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto and Borrelia garinii DNAs in patient with Hyperkeratosis lenticularis perstans (Flegel disease).Folia microbiologica · 2016Article
- Morgellons disease: a filamentous borrelial dermatitis.International journal of general medicine · 2016Review
- Exploring the association between Morgellons disease and Lyme disease: identification of Borrelia burgdorferi in Morgellons disease patients.BMC dermatology · 2015Article
- Clinical determinants of Lyme borreliosis, babesiosis, bartonellosis, anaplasmosis, and ehrlichiosis in an Australian cohort.International journal of general medicine · 2015Article
- Culture and identification ofF1000Research · 2014Article
- Relevance of chronic lyme disease to family medicine as a complex multidimensional chronic disease construct: a systematic review.International journal of family medicine · 2014Review
- Characterization and evolution of dermal filaments from patients with Morgellons disease.Clinical, cosmetic and investigational dermatology · 2013Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Morgellons disease (MD) is an emerging multisystem illness characterized by skin lesions with unusual filaments embedded in or projecting from epithelial tissue. Filament formation results from abnormal keratin and collagen expression by epithelial-based keratinocytes and fibroblasts. Recent research comparing MD to bovine digital dermatitis, an animal infectious disease with similar skin features, provided clues that spirochetal infection could play an important role in the human disease as it does in the animal illness. Based on histological staining, immunofluorescent staining, electron microscopic imaging and polymerase chain reaction, we report the detection of Borrelia spirochetes in dermatological tissue of four randomly-selected MD patients. The association of MD with spirochetal infection provides evidence that this infection may be a significant factor in the illness and refutes claims that MD lesions are self-inflicted and that people suffering from this disorder are delusional. Molecular characterization of the Borrelia spirochetes found in MD patients is warranted.
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.