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Clinical and Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology, July 1998, p. 456-462, Vol. 5, No. 4
Max von Pettenkofer-Institut für
Hygiene und Medizinische Mikrobiologie der
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, D-80336 Munich,
Germany
Received 5 January 1998/Returned for modification 11 February
1998/Accepted 19 March 1998
More and more assays for the serodiagnosis of Lyme borreliosis (LB)
are based on recombinant antigens. However, so far, there is no
consensus as to which are the most specific and sensitive proteins and
how they should be used in combination to obtain tests with the best
discrimination abilities. The present study was preceded by a detailed
analysis of Western blots (WB) using whole-cell lysates of
Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto strain PKa2, B. afzelii PKo, and B. garinii PBi (U. Hauser, G. Lehnert, R. Lobentanzer, and B. Wilske, J. Clin. Microbiol.
35:1433-1444, 1997). For the present work, the data bank from that
study, containing information about the reactivities of 330 sera (from
patients at different stages of LB [n = 189];
control group, n = 141), was reused. The specificities
and sensitivities of various combinations of proteins from different
strains were calculated for different interpretation criteria. For
immunoglobulin G (IgG) WB, the recommended combination of antigens
available to date as recombinant proteins included p83/100 of PKa2,
p83/100 of PKo, p39 of PKo, p39 of PBi, and OspC of PBi (interpretation
criterion, at least one reactive band required for a positive WB;
specificity, 96.5%; sensitivity, 56.1%). The further addition of p58
of PKo, p17 of PKo, or p14 of PKo was most favorable in terms of both a
considerable gain of sensitivity and little loss of specificity. IgG
Western blotting with a whole-cell lysate of strain PKo might be
improved by the addition of OspC of PBi. For IgG WB, the best
combination, out of all bands, was p83/100, p58, p39, p30, and p21 of
all three strains and OspC of PBi, p17b of PBi, p56 of PKa2, p43 of
PKo, p17 of PKo, and p14 of PKo (interpretation criterion, at least two
reactive bands required for a positive WB; specificity, 97.2%; sensitivity, 61.4%). An interpretation criterion of at least two reactive bands is more reliable than one of only one reactive band. For
IgM WB, the best combination was OspC of PKo, OspC of PBi, p39 of all
three strains, p17 of PKo, and strong reactions with p41 of all three
strains (interpretation criterion, at least one reactive band required;
specificity, 97.9%; sensitivity, 47.0%).
1071-412X/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Diagnostic Value of Proteins of Three Borrelia
Species (Borrelia burgdorferi Sensu Lato) and
Implications for Development and Use of Recombinant Antigens for
Serodiagnosis of Lyme Borreliosis in Europe
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Max von
Pettenkofer-Institut für Hygiene und Medizinische Mikrobiologie
der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München,
Pettenkoferstrasse 9a, D-80336 Munich, Germany. Phone: 49-89-51605225. Fax: 49-89-51604757. E-mail: hauser{at}m3401.mpk.med.uni-muenchen.de.
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