title: Species-specific serodiagnosis of Lyme arthritis and neuroborreliosis due to Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto, B. afzelii, and B. garinii by using decorin binding protein A.
abstract: The antigenic potential of decorin binding protein A (DbpA) was evaluated in serodiagnosis of human Lyme borreliosis (LB). The dbpA was cloned and sequenced from the three pathogenic Borrelia species common in Europe. Sequence analysis revealed high interspecies heterogeneity. The identity of the predicted amino acid sequences was 43 to 62% among Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto, B. afzelii, and B. garinii. The respective recombinant DbpAs (rDbpAs) were produced and tested as antigens by Western blotting and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). One hundred percent of patients with neuroborreliosis (NB) and 93% of patients with Lyme arthritis (LA) reacted positively. Sera from the majority of patients reacted with one rDbpA only and had no or low cross-reactivity to other two variant proteins. In patients with culture-positive erythema migrans (EM), the sensitivity of rDbpA immunoglobulin G (IgG) or IgM ELISA was low. The DbpA seems to be a sensitive and specific antigen for the serodiagnosis of LA or NB, but not of EM, provided that variants from all three pathogenic borrelial species are included in the combined set of antigens.
authors.affiliation: Hospital for Children and Adolescents, University of Helsinki, Finland. tero.heikkila@helsinki.fi
authors.forename: Tero
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Heikkilä
authors.forename: Ilkka
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Seppälä
authors.forename: Harri
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Saxen
authors.forename: Jaana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Panelius
authors.forename: Heta
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yrjänäinen
authors.forename: Pekka
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lahdenne
mesh_terms: D018829:Adhesins, Bacterial; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood*; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D025065:Borrelia burgdorferi / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D015748:Borrelia burgdorferi Group / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D015151:Immunoblotting; D008193:Lyme Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology; D020852:Lyme Neuroborreliosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D018829:Adhesins, Bacterial; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D002352:Carrier Proteins; C112557:DdpB protein, Borrelia burgdorferi; D011994:Recombinant Proteins