JCM Figure table search 04
Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Rauer, S.
Right arrow Articles by Vogt, A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Rauer, S.
Right arrow Articles by Vogt, A.

Next Article 

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, April 1998, p. 857-861, Vol. 36, No. 4
0095-1137/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay Using Recombinant OspC and the Internal 14-kDa Flagellin Fragment for Serodiagnosis of Early Lyme Disease

Sebastian Rauer,1,* Nicole Spohn,1 Christiane Rasiah,1 Uwe Neubert,2 and Arnold Vogt1

Abteilung Immunologie, Institut für Medizinische Mikrobiologie und Hygiene der Albert-Ludwigs-Universität, 79104 Freiburg,1 and Dermatologische Klinik der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, 80337 Munich,2 Germany

Received 27 January 1997/Returned for modification 10 June 1997/Accepted 6 January 1998

The outer surface protein C (OspC) and the internal 14-kDa flagellin fragment of strain GeHo of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto were expressed as recombinant proteins in Escherichia coli and were purified for use in an immunoglobulin M (IgM) enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (OspC-14-kDa antigen ELISA). No hint at disturbing protein-protein interferences, which might influence the availability of immunoreactive epitopes, was found when the recombinant antigens were combined in the ELISA. The recombinant OspC-14-kDa antigen ELISA was compared to a commercial IgM ELISA that used a detergent cell extract from Borrelia afzelii PKo as the antigen. According to the manufacturer's information, the cell extract contains, in addition to other antigens, the following diagnostically relevant antigens: the 100-kDa (synonyms, 93- and 83-kDa antigens), 41-kDa, OspA, OspC, and 17-kDa antigens. The specificity was adjusted to 95% on the basis of data for 154 healthy controls. On testing of 104 serum samples from patients with erythema migrans (EM), the sensitivity of the recombinant ELISA (46%) for IgM antibodies was similar to that of the commercial ELISA (45%). However, when 42 serum samples from patients with polyclonal B-cell stimulation due to an Epstein-Barr virus infection were tested, false-positive reactions were significantly less frequent in the recombinant ELISA (10%) than in the whole-cell-extract ELISA (23%). OspC displays sequence heterogeneity of up to 40% according to the genomospecies. However, when the reactions of serum specimens from controls and EM patients with OspC from representative strains of B. burgdorferi sensu stricto (strain GeHo) and B. afzelii (strain PKo) were compared in an ELISA, almost no differences in specificity and sensitivity were seen. This demonstrates that the sera predominantly recognize the common epitopes of OspC tested in this study. In conclusion, we suggest that the OspC-14-kDa antigens ELISA is a suitable test for the detection of an IgM response in early Lyme disease.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Neurologische Klinik und Poliklinik der Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Breisacher Str. 64, D-79104 Freiburg, Germany. Phone: 49-761-270-5001. Fax: 49-761-270-5408. E-mail: rauer{at}nz11.ukl.uni-freiburg.de.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, April 1998, p. 857-861, Vol. 36, No. 4
0095-1137/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:



Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. Clin. Microbiol. Rev.
Clin. Vaccine Immunol. ALL ASM JOURNALS

Copyright © 1998 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.