By Ali Moresco

For decades, patients with persistent neurological symptoms have been told their illness is “stress,” “anxiety,” or “unexplained.”

Now, emerging research shared in the latest episode of Pathobiome Perspectives is revealing a different story- one where infection has the power to alter the brain’s immune system itself.

A new interview featuring veterinary clinician–scientist Dr. Janice Bush of North Carolina State University, may offer one of the most compelling scientific explanations to date.

Bartonella can reprogram the brain’s immune cells

Dr. Bush studies Bartonella henselae, a pathogen best known for causing cat scratch disease, which is increasingly linked to chronic, complex neurological illness.

In her research under world-renowned Bartonella expert Dr. Edward Breitschwerdt, Bush has demonstrated that Bartonella can infect human microglia, the brain’s resident immune cells.

What happens next is alarming:

• Hundreds of genes are disrupted
• Key functions like mitochondrial energy, inflammation signaling, and cell communication are altered
• The patterns of disruption mirror those found in Alzheimer’s, psychiatric disease, and other neurodegenerative disorders

These genetic changes happened in as little as 48 hours.

For years, many Lyme patients have reported cognitive decline, memory loss, psychiatric changes, anxiety, depression, and cyclical neurological “flares,” often without validation or clear medical explanation.

Dr. Bush’s research offers a measurable biological basis for these symptoms, raising an important question: could Bartonella or other co-infections be driving long-term neurological disease in Lyme patients?

Her findings suggest that what has often been dismissed as psychosomatic or merely “post-infectious” may in fact be active immune manipulation occurring within the brain’s own cells.

Why this matters for the Lyme community

• Bartonella is vastly underdiagnosed and often overlooked in Lyme cases.
• Its ability to hide inside cells and suppress immune response may explain chronic illness.
• Understanding microglial infection could lead to new diagnostics and targeted treatments for neurological Lyme and co-infection–related disease.

This research brings us closer to validating what patients have known for years: chronic infection can change the brain.

Tune in to this episode of Pathobiome Perspectives, presented in collaboration with Tick Boot Camp and LymeDisease.org, to learn how cutting-edge research could transform our understanding of chronic illness and cognition–and offer hope to millions navigating life through the haze.

Pathobiome Perspectives was developed in collaboration with the Pathobiome Research Center at PCOM, led by Founding Director Nikki Schultek, and Director Dr. Brian Balin and the Center for Chronic Disorders of Aging (CCDA).

New episodes of Pathobiome Perspectives will roll out every Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. Central.

Ali Moresco is a tick-borne disease survivor, advocate, speaker and founder of Moresco PR, a healthcare communications firm. She also serves as Executive Board Chair of Project Lyme. You can connect with Ali on Instagram at @AliTMoresco or on YouTube.