---
title: Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease, forms drug-tolerant persister cells
description: Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease, forms drug-tolerant persister cells
---

<https://www.globallymealliance.org/research>

# [Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease, forms drug-tolerant persister cells](https://www.globallymealliance.org/research/borrelia-burgdorferi-causative-agent-lyme-disease-forms-drug-tolerant-persister-cells)

 Written by [Global Lyme Alliance](https://www.globallymealliance.org/research/author/glalyme) | Feb 19, 2015 4:34:54 AM

Persisting bacteria survive antibiotic treatment in lab culture. Here, the authors showed that antibiotics killed most of lab-grown B. burgdorferi, with a small surviving population that tolerated drug treatment. They found that mitomycin C, a cancer drug, efficiently killed persisters. They also showed how pulse-dosing, wherein four repetitive cycles that included treating bacterial cultures with ceftriaxone, followed by washing out the drug, resulted in eradication of persistent bacteria.

[View full post](https://www.globallymealliance.org/research/borrelia-burgdorferi-causative-agent-lyme-disease-forms-drug-tolerant-persister-cells)

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