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Clinical and Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology, January 1998, p. 118-120, Vol. 5, No. 1
1071-412X/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Heat Shock Protein 70 of the Agent of Human Granulocytic Ehrlichiosis Binds to Borrelia burgdorferi Antibodies

Jacob W. Ijdo, Yan Zhang, Matthew L. Anderson, David Goldberg, and Erol Fikrig*

Department of Internal Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06520

Received 4 August 1997/Returned for modification 2 October 1997/Accepted 4 November 1997

We describe a patient with human granulocytic ehrlichiosis (HGE), a diagnosis confirmed by PCR and immunoblot analysis. Unexpectedly, immunoglobulin G (IgG) directed towards an 80-kDa ehrlichial antigen (without detectable IgM) was present in the patient's serum in the first week of illness. Lyme disease immunoblots were reactive for IgG (but not IgM), a result indicative of prior exposure to the Lyme disease spirochete. Amino-terminal sequencing revealed that the 80-kDa ehrlichial antigen was an HSP-70 homolog similar to Borrelia burgdorferi HSP-70. We conclude that antibodies against B. burgdorferi HSP-70 may cross-react with the ehrlichial heat shock protein and that this possibility must be considered when serologic test results for HGE and Lyme disease are interpreted.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Section of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, 610 Laboratory of Clinical Investigation, 333 Cedar St., New Haven, CT 06520-4080. Phone: (203) 785-4080. Fax: (203) 785-7053. E-mail: erol.fikrig{at}yale.edu.

Clinical and Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology, January 1998, p. 118-120, Vol. 5, No. 1
1071-412X/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Tajima, T., Zhi, N., Lin, Q., Rikihisa, Y., Horowitz, H. W., Ralfalli, J., Wormser, G. P., Hechemy, K. E. (2000). Comparison of Two Recombinant Major Outer Membrane Proteins of the Human Granulocytic Ehrlichiosis Agent for Use in an Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay. CVI 7: 652-657 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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