title: Variations in Barbour-Stoenner-Kelly culture medium modulate infectivity and pathogenicity of Borrelia burgdorferi clinical isolates.
abstract: The effects of variations in Barbour-Stoenner-Kelly (BSK) medium on the infectivity and pathogenicity of Borrelia burgdorferi clinical isolates were assessed by retrospective and prospective studies using a murine model of Lyme borreliosis. Thirty of 35 (86%) mice infected with any of six virulent B. burgdorferi clinical isolates grown in a BSK-H medium developed clinically apparent arthritis. By contrast, arthritis was observed in only 25 of 60 (42%) mice inoculated with two of these B. burgdorferi strains grown in a different lot of BSK-H medium (P < 0.001). In a prospective study, mice inoculated with a B. burgdorferi clinical isolate grown in a BSK medium prepared in-house produced significantly greater disease than those injected with the same isolate cultured in BSK-H medium (P < 0.05). The attenuated pathogenicity is not due to the loss of plasmids during in vitro cultivation. The data suggest that variations in BSK medium have a significant impact on the infectivity and pathogenicity of B. burgdorferi clinical isolates.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology & Immunology, New York Medical College, Valhalla 10595, USA. guiqing_wang@nymc.edu
authors.forename: Guiqing
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Radha
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Iyer
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bittker
authors.forename: Denise
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cooper
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Small
authors.forename: Gary P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Wormser
authors.forename: Ira
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Schwartz
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001431:Bacteriological Techniques; D025065:Borrelia burgdorferi / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D003470:Culture Media / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D008193:Lyme Disease / Q000382:microbiology; D051379:Mice; D008809:Mice, Inbred C3H; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012189:Retrospective Studies
chemical_list: D003470:Culture Media