title: Improved serodiagnosis of early Lyme borreliosis: immunoblot with local Borrelia afzelii strain.
abstract: To improve the serodiagnosis of Lyme borreliosis (LB) the performances of four tests were evaluated. An indirect immunofluorescent assay based on Borrelia burgdorferi s.s., enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) based on local isolates of Borrelia afzelii and B. burgdorferi s.s., and immunoblot (IB) of B. afzelii were prepared. The serum panels contained 214 serum samples: control group (n=120) and patients at different stages of LB (n=94). The specificity of IB was 96%, of in-house ELISA 93%, and of IFA 89%. In early LB the sensitivity of IFA was 36%, ELISA 67%, and IB 93%. In late-stage LB the sensitivity was: 72% for IFA, 80% for ELISA, and 94% for IB. Comparison of in-house and Behring ELISA showed that the sensitivity of the serological assay could be increased when the test was based on local Borrelia strains. IgM and IgG antibodies from sera of patients with early and late LB most frequently demonstrated reactivity to OspC. The other significant proteins in early LB were: p39, p41 in IgM IB, and p83/100, p39, Osp17 in IgG IB; in late LB: p39, p41 in IgM IB, and p83/100, Osp17, p21 and p43 in IgG IB. Using IB based on local B. afzelii isolates improves the serodiagnosis of early LB in our geographical region.
authors: Institute of Public Health of Serbia Dr Milan Jovanović Batut, Department for Microbiology, Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro. vilma@batut.org.yu
authors: Vilma Lj
authors: VLj
authors: Jovicić
authors: Edita M
authors: EM
authors: Grego
authors: Branislav L
authors: BL
authors: Lako
authors: Blagoje M
authors: BM
authors: Ristović
authors: Zorica A
authors: ZA
authors: Lepsanović
authors: Novica T
authors: NT
authors: Stajković
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood*; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / Q000276:immunology; D015748:Borrelia burgdorferi Group / Q000276:immunology* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D019084:Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect; D006801:Humans; D015151:Immunoblotting / Q000379:methods; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000097:blood; D008193:Lyme Disease / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008875:Middle Aged; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012698:Serologic Tests / Q000379:methods; D013997:Time Factors; D015022:Yugoslavia
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D007075:Immunoglobulin M; C079616:OspC protein