An immunoglobulin G immunoblot was developed with antigenic extracts of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto,B. garinii, B. afzelii, and B. valaisiana genospecies and was reacted with sera from patients with neuroborreliosis, acrodermatitis, and Lyme arthritis. A detailed analysis of the reactivities of the protein bands was performed, and a two-step scoring procedure was selected to determine the preferential reactivity of sera to one particular genospecies. The discriminative potential of 5 proteins (12-kDa, 16-kDa, 18-kDa, OspA, and 66-kDa proteins) was used as a rapid first-step scoring method, followed by scoring of 14 additional protein bands if necessary. The advantage of this procedure is the low percentage of serum samples with inconclusive results for one of the four species (10% for patients with neuroborreliosis, 6% for patients with acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans, and 6% for patients with Lyme arthritis). Among 31 serum samples from patients with neuroborreliosis, 16 were more reactive toB. garinii, 7 were more reactive to B. afzelii, 3 were more reactive to B. valaisiana, and 2 were more reactive to B. burgdorferi sensu stricto. Of 31 serum samples from patients with acrodermatitis, 26 showed a higher level of reactivity to B. afzelii. Of 34 serum samples from patients with Lyme arthritis, 21 were more reactive to B. burgdorferi sensu stricto, 10 were more reactive to B. afzelii, and 1 was more reactive to B. valaisiana. Our results suggest an organotropism of Borrelia species and provide some evidence of a pathogenic potential of B. valaisiana in humans.

OBJECTIVE: To test the performances of new Borrelia garinii immunoblots specific for Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato with a selected panel of sera from patients with various clinical presentations of Lyme borreliosis. METHODS: In order to establish the sensitivity and the specificity of these immunoblots, we tested serum samples obtained from patients with early- and late-stage Lyme disease (erythema migrans n=35, neuroborreliosis n=61, acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans (ACA) n=27 and arthritis n=41), from patients with diagnoses and laboratory findings associated with serologic cross-reactivity to Lyme disease (syphilis n=12, Epstein-Barr infection n=9, autoimmune markers n=29) and from blood donors residing in regions of low and medium endemicity (n=80, n=100). RESULTS: The combined sensitivity (IgG and IgM) of the tests was 90% for patients with erythema migrans, 92% for neuroborreliosis, 96% for ACA and 100% for Lyme arthritis. The specificity of the IgG immunoblot was 94%, and that of the IgM immunoblot was 97%, taking into account the prevalence of borrelia antibodies in the overall population. Interpretation of these immunoblots is based on scores allocated to different specific borrelia antigens. CONCLUSIONS: The Western blot technology is extremely useful in dissecting the immune response to borrelia infections, which develops gradually over a period of weeks to years and which involves the appearance of IgM and IgG antibodies directed against a number of borrelia-associated proteins.

Borrelia burgdorferi, the agent of Lyme borreliosis, is genetically more heterogeneous than previously thought. In Europe five genospecies have been described from the original B. burgdorferi sensu lato (sl): B. burgdorferi sensu stricto (ss), B. garinii, B. afzelii, B. lusitaniae, and B. valaisiana. In the United States, B. burgdorferi ss as well as B. bissettii in California and B. andersonii on the East Coast were differentiated. In Asia, B. japonica has been identified along, with B. garinii, B. afzelii, and B. valaisiana. In order to evaluate sensitivity and specificity of four species-specific monoclonal antibodies, we analyzed 210 B. burgdorferi sl isolates belonging to eight genospecies by immunoblot and confirmed genospecies by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) of rrf (5S)-rrl (23S) intergenic spacer amplicon. Monoclonal antibody H3TS had 100% sensitivity for 55 B. burgdorferi ss isolates but showed reactivity with all four isolates belonging to B. bissetii. Monoclonal antibody I 17.3 showed 100% specificity and sensitivity for 45 B. afzelii isolates. Monoclonal antibody D6 was 100% specific for B. garinii but missed 1 of 64 isolates (98.5% sensitivity). Monoclonal antibody A116k was 100% specific for B. valaisiana but was unreactive with 4 of 24 isolates (83.5% sensitivity). Genetic analysis correlated well with results of reactivity and confirmed efficacy of the phenotypic typing of these antibodies. Some isolates showed atypical RFLP. Therefore, both phenotypic and genotypic analyses are needed to characterize new Borrelia isolates.Borrelia burgdorferi, the agent of Lyme borreliosis, has been found to be genetically more heterogeneous than previously thought. In Europe, five genospecies have been described from the original B. burgdorferi, now called B. burgdorferi sensu lato: B. burgdorferi sensu stricto, B. garinii, B. afzelii, B. lusitaniae, and B. valaisiana (3, 9, 19, 32 (1,2,24,29). We have previously reported serological evidence for a pathogenic potential of B. valaisiana in humans (29). Sera from three patients with neuroborreliosis and from one patient with Lyme arthritis showed higher reactivity with this Borrelia species.Genetic analysis based on 16S rDNA, restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), arbitrarily primed PCR, and other methods for phylogenetic study of bacterial population, such as multilocus enzyme electrophoresis, all confirmed the subdivision of B. burgdorferi sensu lato into different species worldwide.The serotyping method developed by Wilske et al. (34) and classification based on protein profiles provided similar data. Monoclonal antibodies specific to some of these species have been described (3,9,22), and a new monoclonal antibody to B. valaisiana has been produced in our laboratory. In the present study, we evaluated the specificity and sensitivity of four species-specific monoclonal antibodies based on the analysis of 210 isolates of B. burgdorferi sensu lato. MATERIALS AND METHODSCulture of Borrelia isolates. All isolates (Table 1) were cult...

Background: Although European Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato isolates have been divided into five genospecies, specific tools for the serotype characterization of only three genospecies are available. Monoclonals antibodies (mAbs) H3TS, D6 and I17.3 identify B. burgdorferi sensu stricto (ss.), B. garinii and B. afzelii respectively, but no mAbs are available to identify B. valaisiana. In the same way, specific primers exist to amplify the OspA gene of B. burgdorferi ss., B. garinii and B. afzelii. The aim of the study was to develop species-specific mAb and PCR primers for the phenotypic and genetic identification of B. valaisiana.