scholarly journals Detection of Immune Complexes Is Not Independent of Detection of Antibodies in Lyme Disease Patients and Does Not Confirm Active Infection with Borrelia burgdorferi

2005 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 1036-1040 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adriana R. Marques ◽  
Ronald L. Hornung ◽  
Len Dally ◽  
Mario T. Philipp
Keyword(s):  
Lyme Disease ◽  
Borrelia Burgdorferi ◽  
Rhesus Macaques ◽  
Protein A ◽  
Surface Protein ◽  
Laboratory Diagnosis ◽  
Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay ◽  
Active Infection ◽  
Serum Samples ◽  
Outer Surface Protein A

ABSTRACT The Borrelia burgdorferi-specific immune complex (IC) test, which uses polyethylene glycol (PEG) precipitation to isolate ICs from serum, has been used as a research test in the laboratory diagnosis of early Lyme disease (LD) and has been proposed as a marker of active infection. We examined whether B. burgdorferi-specific antibodies were present within PEG-precipitated ICs (PEG-ICs) in patients with LD, posttreatment Lyme disease syndrome, and controls, including individuals who received the outer surface protein A (OspA) vaccine. Using a B. burgdorferi whole-cell enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), we obtained positive PEG-IC results not only in patients with a history of LD, but also in individuals vaccinated with OspA vaccine. The frequency of positive PEG-IC ELISAs in OspA vaccinees was significantly higher with ELISA-reactive than with ELISA-negative unprocessed serum samples (P = 0.001), demonstrating dependency between the tests. Similar results were found using samples from rhesus macaques infected with B. burgdorferi, uninfected macaques vaccinated with OspA, and controls. Therefore, testing for the presence of antibodies against B. burgdorferi in PEG-IC preparations is not more likely to reflect active infection than testing in unprocessed serum and should not be used in individuals who received the OspA vaccine.

Immunogenicity of a recombinant Borrelia burgdorferi outer surface protein A vaccine against Lyme disease in children

1999 ◽  
Vol 135 (5) ◽  
pp. 575-579 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry M. Feder ◽  
Jeri Beran ◽  
Christian Van Hoecke ◽  
Betsy Abraham ◽  
Norbert De Clercq ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Lyme Disease ◽  
Borrelia Burgdorferi ◽  
Outer Surface ◽  
Protein A ◽  
Surface Protein ◽  
Outer Surface Protein A ◽  
Outer Surface Protein

scholarly journals Does Host Complement Kill Borrelia burgdorferi within Ticks?

2003 ◽  
Vol 71 (2) ◽  
pp. 822-829 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sivaprakash Rathinavelu ◽  
Anne Broadwater ◽  
Aravinda M. de Silva
Keyword(s):  
Lyme Disease ◽  
Borrelia Burgdorferi ◽  
Outer Surface ◽  
Protein A ◽  
Surface Protein ◽  
Block Transmission ◽  
Outer Surface Protein A ◽  
Tick Vector ◽  
Host Blood ◽  
Transmission Blocking Vaccine

ABSTRACT The Lyme disease spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi, inhabits the gut lumen of the tick vector. At this location the spirochete is exposed to host blood when a tick feeds. We report here on studies that were done with normal and complement-deficient (C3-knockout) mice to determine if the host complement system killed spirochetes within the vector. We found that spirochete numbers within feeding nymphs were not influenced by complement, most likely because host complement was inactivated within the vector. The Lyme disease outer surface protein A (OspA) vaccine is a transmission-blocking vaccine that targets spirochetes in the vector. In experiments with mice hyperimmunized with OspA, complement was not required to kill spirochetes within nymphs and to block transmission from nymphs to the vaccinated host. However, host complement did enhance the ability of OspA antibody to block larvae from acquiring spirochetes. Thus, the effects of OspA antibody on nymphal transmission and larval acquisition appear to be based on different mechanisms.

scholarly journals Characterization of a Borrelia burgdorferi VlsE Invariable Region Useful in Canine Lyme Disease Serodiagnosis by Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay

2000 ◽  
Vol 38 (11) ◽  
pp. 4160-4166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fang Ting Liang ◽  
Richard H. Jacobson ◽  
Reinhard K. Straubinger ◽  
Amy Grooters ◽  
Mario T. Philipp
Keyword(s):  
Lyme Disease ◽  
Borrelia Burgdorferi ◽  
Antibody Response ◽  
Immunosorbent Assay ◽  
Protein A ◽  
Immunoblot Analysis ◽  
Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay ◽  
Serum Samples ◽  
Entire Study ◽  
Variable Surface

Sera collected from dogs experimentally infected withBorrelia burgdorferi by tick inoculation were analyzed for an antibody response to each of the six invariable regions (IRs; i.e., IR1 to IR6) of VlsE, the variable surface antigen of B. burgdorferi. Six synthetic peptides (C1 to C6), which reproduced the six IR sequences were used as peptide-based, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) antigens. Two IRs, IR2 and IR6, were found to be immunodominant. Studies with serially collected serum samples from experimentally infected dogs revealed that the antibody response to IR6 appears earlier and is stronger than that to IR2. Thus, the IR6 sequence alone appeared to be sufficient for serodiagnosis. When C6 alone was used as antigen, the peptide-based ELISA was positive in 7 of 23 dogs (30%) as early as 3 weeks postinfection. All dogs (n = 33) became strongly positive 1 or 2 weeks later, and this response persisted for the entire study, which lasted for 69 weeks. Of 55 sera submitted by veterinarians from dogs suspected of having Lyme disease, 19 were also positive by the C6 ELISA, compared to 20 positives detected by immunoblot analysis using cultured B. burgdorferi lysates as antigen. The sensitivity of using C2 and C6 together for detecting specific antibody in both experimentally infected and clinically diagnosed dogs was not better than sensitivity with C6 alone, confirming that C6 suffices as a diagnostic probe. Moreover, the C6 ELISA yielded 100% specificity with serum samples collected from 70 healthy dogs, 14 dogs with infections other than B. burgdorferi, and 15 animals vaccinated with either outer surface protein A, whole-spirochete vaccines, or the common puppy-vaccines. Therefore, this C6 ELISA was both sensitive and specific for the serodiagnosis of canine Lyme disease and could be used with vaccinated dogs.

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