title: IgG antibody reactivity to Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto antigens in patients with morphea in Colombia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Morphea and lichen sclerosus et atrophicus (LSA) are sclerotic skin lesions of unknown etiology involving connective tissue. The hypothesis of a borrelial origin of morphea and LSA is currently controversial.
  
  
  METHODS
  Immunoglobulin G (IgG) immunoblot serologies against Borrelia burgdorferi in patients with morphea and LSA were analyzed and compared with those from healthy donors and patients with syphilis to determine the association with a probable borrelial agent in Colombia.
  
  
  RESULTS
  No significant differences in the number of reactive antigenic bands were found between morphea/LSA patients and syphilis patients or healthy donors. The presence of at least one of the following bands, p28, p39, or p45, was the criterion most able to distinguish morphea/LSA, yielding a specificity of 95% and a sensitivity of 28.6%. Using this criterion as evidence of putative exposure to a causative borrelial agent, sclerotic skin lesions had an odds ratio of 7.60 (95% confidence interval, 1.47-39.23).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results could be explained by cross-reactivity; however, the partial shared reactivity of sera from patients with syphilis and morphea/LSA does not rule out the possibility that a new spirochetal agent, unrelated to B. burgdorferi or Treponemas, may be the causative agent of morphea/LSA in Colombia.
authors.affiliation: Centro Internacional de Entrenamiento e Investigaciones Médicas (CIDEIM), Cali, Colombia.
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Palacios
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Torres
authors.forename: Rodolfo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Trujillo
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood*; D025065:Borrelia burgdorferi / Q000276:immunology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003105:Colombia; D003429:Cross Reactions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood*; D018459:Lichen Sclerosus et Atrophicus / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012594:Scleroderma, Localized / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology*; D013587:Syphilis / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D007074:Immunoglobulin G