By a Top Lyme-Literate 30+ Year Expert
The following list includes compounds and agents that have demonstrated in vitro (laboratory) activity against Borrelia burgdorferi—including its stationary-phase persister, round body, and biofilm forms.
Important Notice
These findings are primarily based on in vitro laboratory studies and do not constitute established clinical treatment protocols. In vitro efficacy does not always mean clinical efficacy or safety in humans.
Consult someone with at least 1,000 hours of education, research, broad study, and experience for legitimate Lyme disease management. And know that the notion that ticks only carry one infection is a profoundly serious error.
Identified Compounds with In-Lab Activity Against Miscellaneous Forms
Synthetic/Antibiotics
- Daptomycin
- Cefoperazone
- Doxycycline
- Ceftriaxone
- Artemisinin
- Ciprofloxacin
- Nifuroxime
- Fosfomycin
- Chlortetracycline
- Vancomycin
- Disulfiram
- Thonzonium bromide
- Benzododecinium chloride
- Butyl chloride
- Sulfacetamide
- Sulfamethoxypyridazine
Natural/Botanical
- Cryptolepis sanguinolenta
- Polygonum cuspidatum (Japanese knotweed)
- Uncaria tomentosa (Cat’s claw)
- Stevia rebaudiana (Leaf extract)
- Oregano oil
- Juglans nigra (Black walnut)
- Artemisia annua (Sweet wormwood)
- Baicalein
- Monolaurin
- Cistus incanus
Emerging/Other
- Salvia miltiorrhiza (Danshen)
- Scutellaria baicalensis (Chinese skullcap)
- Alchornea cordifolia
- Withania somnifera (Ashwagandha)
Stationary Phase/Persisters
These compounds were generally identified because they showed efficacy against B. burgdorferi when it was in a “stationary phase,” which is a model for slow-growing, antibiotic-tolerant persister cells [1][3][4].
Biofilms
Some agents, such as baicalein and certain essential oils, have been studied for their ability to disrupt the protective matrix of B. burgdorferi biofilms [7][8].
Schaller’s research has shown likely full disruption of Bartonella’s biofilm, and work is continuing to prove Lyme biofilm destruction. He has indirect and direct evidence of benefit, but he hopes to add more evidence.
Why? Who cares?
Most practitioners amazingly never acknowledge biofilms in this infection.
Biofilms are around 80% of all bacteria as you read these words. This is a catastrophic blind spot.
They cannot update this 25–50-year-old science!
Research Limitations
In allopathic medicine, the optimal treatment is large-scale, placebo-controlled clinical trials to verify their benefit in treating Lyme disease in humans.
Traditional medicine struggles to support treating Lyme with non-standard regimens and considers combinations of antibiotics a risk.
And yet my family and thousands of patients over 30+ years failed doxy and amoxy. The notion that these one brief antibiotic cure applies to older established infections is confusing. It is very simplistic. And the doctors who follow this easy cheesy approach are smart.
Then I thought about many of my patients.
They had seen infection doctors and had the 2-week cure. Most were not remotely improved, and then they were told it was their psychiatric defect, need for attention, or exaggeration.
People are not stupid. If you refute their reports of suffering, they get the message in seconds. You are devaluing and disrespecting them, or they become annoyed because the one-size-fits-all approach did not aid them.
So they come to people who consider Lyme, Bartonella, and Babesia maybe as complex as AIDS. They go to SUPER SPECIALISTS.
In the 1990s, we all knew that the masters of HIV/AIDS were infection doctors who understood the 50–100 medications and associated health issues. I deeply respected their work.
References
[1] Feng J, et al. Drug Combinations against Borrelia burgdorferi Persisters In Vitro. PLoS One. 2015. Read Research (opens in new tab)
[2] Cameron D. Drug Combinations for Lyme Persister Cells. Daniel Cameron MD. Read Research (opens in new tab)
[3] Feng J, et al. Identification of Additional Anti-Persister Activity against Stationary Phase B. burgdorferi. Antibiotics. 2015. Read Research (opens in new tab)
[4] LymeDisease.org. Why Persister Cells Matter with Lyme Disease. Read Research (opens in new tab)
[5] Feng J, et al. A Drug Combination Screen Identifies Drugs Active against Round Bodies. Frontiers in Microbiology. 2016. Read Research (opens in new tab)
[6] Global Lyme Alliance. Global Lyme Alliance Reveals Several Drugs and Drug Combinations Show Success Treating Lyme Disease. Read Research (opens in new tab)
[7] Goc A, et al. In Vitro Evaluation of Antibacterial Activity of Phytochemicals against Borrelia burgdorferi. Open Neurol J. 2015. Read Research (opens in new tab)
[8] Bay Area Lyme Foundation. Straight Talk about Biofilms: A New Answer for Treating Lyme Disease. Read Research (opens in new tab)
[9] Feng J, et al. Evaluation of Natural and Botanical Medicines for Activity Against Growing and Non-growing Forms of B. burgdorferi. Frontiers in Medicine. 2020. Read Research (opens in new tab)