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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, June 2000, p. 2097-2102, Vol. 38, No. 6
Public Health Laboratory, Southampton General Hospital,
Southampton,1 Public Health Laboratory,
Singleton Hospital, Swansea,2 and Public
Health Laboratory Service Statistics Unit, Colindale,
London,3 United Kingdom; Pettenkofer
Institute, University of Munich, Munich,
Germany4; Centro Nacional de
Microbiologia, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid,
Spain5; Department of Clinical
Microbiology, Karolinska Hospital, Stockholm,
Sweden6; Diagnostic Parasitology,
University of Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel,
Switzerland7; Microbiology, St. Orsola
Hospital, University of Bologna, Bologna,
Italy8; Diagnostic Laboratory for
Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Public Health,
Bilthoven, The Netherlands9; Hygiene
Institute, University of Vienna, Vienna,
Austria10; and Department of
Environmental Resource Management, University College Dublin,
Dublin, Ireland11
Received 27 September 1999/Returned for modification 12 November
1999/Accepted 10 March 2000
A European multicenter study of immunoblotting for the
serodiagnosis of Lyme borreliosis showed considerable variation in results obtained from tests with a panel of 227 serum samples. Six
laboratories used different immunoblot methods, and a wide range of
bands was detected in all the assays. Multivariable logistic regression
analysis of data from individual laboratories was used to determine the
most discriminatory bands for reliable detection of antibodies to
Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato. These bands were used to
construct individual interpretation rules for the immunoblots used in
the six laboratories. Further analysis identified a subset of eight
bands, which were important in all the laboratories, although with
variations in significance. Possible European rules, all closely
related, were formulated from these bands, although there was no single
rule that gave high levels of sensitivity and specificity for all the
laboratories. This is a reflection of the wide range of methodologies
used, especially the use of different species and strains of B. burgdorferi sensu lato. The panel of European rules provides a
framework for immunoblot interpretation which may be adapted in
relation to the characteristics of Lyme borreliosis in local areas.
0095-1137/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
A European Multicenter Study of Immunoblotting in
Serodiagnosis of Lyme Borreliosis
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of
Environmental Resource Management, University College, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland. Phone: 00353-1-7067739. Fax: 00353-1-7061102. E-mail: jgray{at}macollamh.ucd.ie.
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