LymeNet Newsletter Volume 4 Issue 07

Volume: 4
Issue: 07
Date: 28-May-96

Table of Contents:

I. NEW MICROBIOL: Lyme disease seroprevalence in a region of central Italy II. ZENTRALBL VETERINARMED: Borrelia in pigeons: no serological evidence of Borrelia burgdorferi infection III. J NEUROL: Lyme borreliosis and cranial neuropathy IV. J CLIN MICROBIOL: Sera from OspA-vaccinated dogs, but not those from tick-infected dogs, inhibit in vitro growth of Borrelia burgdorferi V. CLIN INFECT DIS: Persistence of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato in resolved erythema migrans lesions VI. About The LymeNet Newsletter

Newsletter:

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IDX# Volume 4 - Number 07 - 5/28/96 IDX# INDEX IDX# IDX# I. NEW MICROBIOL: Lyme disease seroprevalence in a region of IDX# central Italy IDX# II. ZENTRALBL VETERINARMED: Borrelia in pigeons: no serological IDX# evidence of Borrelia burgdorferi infection IDX# III. J NEUROL: Lyme borreliosis and cranial neuropathy IDX# IV. J CLIN MICROBIOL: Sera from OspA-vaccinated dogs, but not IDX# those from tick-infected dogs, inhibit in vitro growth of IDX# Borrelia burgdorferi IDX# V. CLIN INFECT DIS: Persistence of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu IDX# lato in resolved erythema migrans lesions IDX# VI. About The LymeNet Newsletter IDX#

I. NEW MICROBIOL: Lyme disease seroprevalence in a region of central Italy --------------------------------------------------------------- AUTHORS: Santino I, Nicosia R, Sessa R, Pustorino R, Pastorelli D Isacchi G, Del Piano M ORGANIZATION: II Chair of Clinical Microbiology, University of Roma, La Sapienza, Italy. REFERENCE: New Microbiol 1995 Oct;18(4):391-8 ABSTRACT:

The present study reports the seroprevalence of IgG antibodies to B. burgdorferi by testing sera from volunteer blood donors in Latium, a region of Central Italy. All samples were tested by ELISA and the positive samples were assayed by Western blotting as a confirmatory test. A positivity rate of 4.3% was recorded by ELISA, while after the confirmatory test by Western blotting the positivity rate decreased to 1.5%. The presence of significant antibody titers to B. burgdorferi in the sera of healthy subjects shows that further investigations are necessary to clarify the real prevalence of Lyme disease in our region.

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II. ZENTRALBL VETERINARMED: Borrelia in pigeons: no serological evidence of Borrelia burgdorferi infection ----------------------------------------------------------------- AUTHORS: Fabbi M, Sambri V, Marangoni A, Magnino S, Solari Basano F Cevenini R, Genchi C ORGANIZATION: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell'Emilia 'Bruno Ubertini', Pavia, Italia. REFERENCE: Zentralbl Veterinarmed [B] 1995 Oct;42(8):503-7 ABSTRACT:

In order to clarify the supposed involvement of urban pigeons (Columba livia livia) in the epidemiology of Lyme disease, the presence of antibodies against Borrelia burgdorferi and Borrelia anserina in pigeons' sera, collected in 12 areas of northern and central Italy, was evaluated. This evaluation was carried out using a classic immunofluorescence assay (IFA), a surface immunofluorescence assay (SIFA) and a standard Western Blot (WB) assay. A total of 104 out of 3,186 (3.26%) serum samples were positive for both spirochetes when tested by IFA, with titres ranging from 1/40 to 1/1280. All positive specimens showed the same or a higher reactivity against B. anserina than against B. burgdorferi. Of the IFA positive samples, 30 were tested by WB and SIFA to evaluate further the specificity of the antibody response, i.e. to try to clarify against which spirochete the antibodies were raised. The presence of antibodies against the 23 kDa protein exclusive to B. anserina, and against epitopes which are not surface-exposed and which are common
to B. anserina and B. burgdorferi, was assessed by WB and SIFA. No serological evidence that B. burgdorferi can infect pigeons was found.

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III. J NEUROL: Lyme borreliosis and cranial neuropathy -------------------------------------------------------- AUTHOR: Kindstrand E REFERENCE: J Neurol 1995 Oct;242(10):658-63 ABSTRACT:

In a 2-year study of 37 consecutive adult patients with isolated cranial nerve affection of primarily unknown origin, seen at a neurological clinic, borrelia infection was identified as the cause in six cases. Four patients had a peripheral facial palsy and two had a sixth nerve palsy. The patients with borreliosis had headaches or other pain considerably more often than patients with other or unknown aetiology. All six patients had accompanying symptoms and/or signs; in five cases these were obvious, and pointed to a borrelia infection. This study indicates that a careful history to elicit other symptoms of Lyme borreliosis will usually identify the cranial nerve affections with borrelial aetiology in adult patients. To verify the diagnosis, both serum and CSF analysis should be performed. Routine testing for borrelia serology in all patients with cranial neuropathy is generally not indicated.

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IV. J CLIN MICROBIOL: Sera from OspA-vaccinated dogs, but not those from tick-infected dogs, inhibit in vitro growth of Borrelia burgdorferi --------------------------------------------------------------------- AUTHORS: Straubinger RK, Chang YF, Jacobson RH, Appel MJ ORGANIZATION: James A. Baker Institute for Animal Health, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York ABSTRACT:

Dogs were challenged with Borrelia burgdorferi by exposure to ticks, with or without prior protection from infection by recombinant OspA (rOspA) vaccination. Sera from these dogs were tested for their capability to inhibit the growth of B. burgdorferi in vitro. Bacterial growth was detected by a color change in the culture medium, and the optical density was measured with a spectrophotometer in microtiter plates. By growth inhibition, which was complement dependent, the color change was lacking after 5 days of incubation. Over a 1-year study, nonvaccinated dogs infected by exposure to ticks showed high antibody titers to B. burgdorferi by kinetic enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (KELA). The same sera did not inhibit spirochetal growth or did so only at a low dilution. These results corresponded to the lack of OspA and OspB antibodies seen in Western blots (immunoblots), and these dogs were not protected from infection or disease.

In contrast, dogs immunized with rOspA prior to challenge with infected ticks produced high antibody titers, as determined by KELA, but their sera also had high growth-inhibiting antibody titers. Western blot analysis showed a strong band in the 32-kDa region when the sera of these dogs were tested. When adjuvant was administered with rOspA, antibody titers by both KELA and growth inhibition were higher and persisted longer in the immunized dogs. All dogs immunized with rOspA were protected from infection and disease.

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V. CLIN INFECT DIS: Persistence of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato in resolved erythema migrans lesions --------------------------------------------------------------------- AUTHORS: Strle F, Cheng Y, Cimperman J, Maraspin V, Lotric-Furlan S Nelson JA, Picken MM, Ruzic-Sabljic E, Picken RN ORGANIZATION: Department of Infectious Diseases, University Medical Centre, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia REFERENCE: Clin Infect Dis 1995 Aug;21(2):380-9 ABSTRACT:

Erythema migrans skin lesions resulting from a tick bite and infection with Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato eventually resolve, even without antibiotic therapy. The aim of the present study was to gauge the frequency of persistence of B. burgdorferi sensu lato in such lesions. Thus, the site of a previous lesion was biopsied and cultured in 48 patients: 39 with systemic or localized symptoms/signs and nine with no symptoms. B. burgdorferi sensu lato was isolated from biopsied skin from three symptomatic patients. Cultures of other tissues and fluids were negative. By genospecies-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and pulsed-field gel electrophoretic (PFGE) analysis, two isolates were classified as Borrelia afzelii. The remaining isolate was a member of an unusual group of strains that type as B. burgdorferi sensu stricto by genospecies PCR but possess an atypical PFGE profile. All three patients had a dramatic clinical response to antibiotic treatment. These findings demonstrate the capacity of
viable B. burgdorferi sensu lato organisms to persist in clinically normal-appearing skin at the site of a resolved erythema migrans rash for periods ranging from 2 months to 3.5 years. This observation may provide new insight into the organisms' ability to evade the host's immune response.

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