title: Borrelia burgdorferi and different types of morphea.
abstract: Thirty patients with different clinical manifestations of morphea (circumscribed scleroderma) were investigated for serum antibodies against Borrelia burgdorferi determined by ELISA and Western blot analysis. Forty-six percent of the patients were seropositive. Western blots confirmed the ELISA results in 10 of 25 patients (40%), showing a reactivity pattern which can be seen in the course of Lyme borreliosis. In some cases the outcome after antibiotic treatment suggests a direct correlation between the further development of skin lesions and Borrelia infection. Because of these findings we suggest some morphea types to be possibly due to a B. burgdorferi infection.
authors.affiliation: IInd Department of Dermatology, University of Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Aberer
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Klade
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Stanek
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Gebhart
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015153:Blotting, Western; D015748:Borrelia burgdorferi Group / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008193:Lyme Disease / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012594:Scleroderma, Localized / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents