This study presents a novel approach to the analysis of protein antigens of Campylobacter pylori for use in serology. Protein fractions of this bacterium were resolved in polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, eluted from gel strips in an electric field and used for coating of microtiter plates in an ELISA-type assay run with a small set of sera from both infected and non-infected patients. Reactivity and discriminative power of the different fractionated antigens (1-9) and crude antigen preparations (A-C) were compared. Better discrimination was achieved between positive and negative sera with high molecular weight fractionated preparations (antigens 8 and 9) than with low molecular weight fractions. Among the crude antigen preparations, antigens A (sonicated whole cells) and C (ultracentrifugated sonicate) seem to have a better discriminative power than antigen B (acid glycin extract).
We present here a prospective study on infections following tickbites in military recruits in the province of Tyrol (Austria). 84 recruits experienced tickbites and underwent clinical and serological examination twice at four-week intervals for signs of tick borne encephalitis (TBE)-virus or Borrelia burgdorferi infections. 56 and 50 recruits could be evaluated for TBE-virus and Borrelia infection, respectively. Whereas no recruit was found with clinical or laboratory evidence of TBE-virus infection, two (4%) recruits showed an erythema chronicum migrans as primary manifestation of a Borrelia burgdorferi infection and 11 (20%) recruits had a significant increase in the titer of anti-Borrelia burgdorferi antibodies. Our results support the predominance of a subclinical course of a tick-transmitted borrelia infection in the population under observation, and shed some light on the epidemiological situation of tick-transmitted diseases in Tyrol.
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