Comparison of the yields of blood cultures using serum or plasma from patients with early Lyme disease.
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).
Wormser
G P
GP
Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, New York Medical College, Valhalla, New York 10595, USA. Gary_Wormser@NYMC.EDU
Bittker
S
S
Cooper
D
D
Nowakowski
J
J
Nadelman
R B
RB
Pavia
C
C
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*
D003470:Culture Media