title: Comparison of the yields of blood cultures using serum or plasma from patients with early Lyme disease.
abstract: In an initial experiment, culture-grown Borrelia burgdorferi was added to freshly collected uninfected human blood. This in vitro study demonstrated that more spirochetes were distributed into the plasma than into the serum fraction. In a subsequent clinical study, B. burgdorferi was recovered from plasma cultures of approximately 50% of 42 patients with early Lyme disease associated with erythema migrans. The rate of recovery from plasma cultures was significantly greater than that from serum cultures (P < 0.001).
authors.affiliation: Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, New York Medical College, Valhalla, New York 10595, USA. Gary_Wormser@NYMC.EDU
authors.forename: G P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Wormser
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bittker
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cooper
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nowakowski
authors.forename: R B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Nadelman
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pavia
mesh_terms: D001431:Bacteriological Techniques; D001769:Blood / Q000382:microbiology*; D015748:Borrelia burgdorferi Group / Q000254:growth & development / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D003470:Culture Media; D006801:Humans; D008193:Lyme Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology; D010949:Plasma / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D003470:Culture Media