OBJECTIVE: To compare lymphocyte proliferative responses to Borrelia burgdorferi in healthy controls and patients with Lyme disease. PATIENTS: Twelve patients fulfilling case-definition criteria for Lyme disease. Twelve healthy volunteers and two newborns served as controls. MEASUREMENTS: Antibodies to B. burgdorferi were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Proliferation of peripheral blood lymphocytes cultured for 5 days with B. burgdorferi, recall antigens, or pokeweed mitogen was measured by radioactive thymidine uptake. RESULTS: Lymphocytes from 11 patients with Lyme disease, 8 healthy seronegative controls, and two newborns showed elevated responses when stimulated with B. burgdorferi. When a patient and a control were studied on the same day, the patient's lymphocyte response to B. burgdorferi exceeded the control's in only 5 of 12 cases. Lymphocytes from both patients and controls responded to B. burgdorferi isolates from three different sources. CONCLUSIONS: Heightened lymphocyte responses to B. burgdorferi are found in patients with Lyme disease but elevated responses also frequently occur in healthy controls. At present, the interpretation of a positive lymphocyte response to B. burgdorferi would be difficult in ambiguous clinical situations.
OBJECTIVE: To compare lymphocyte proliferative responses to Borrelia burgdorferi in healthy controls and patients with Lyme disease. PATIENTS: Twelve patients fulfilling case-definition criteria for Lyme disease. Twelve healthy volunteers and two newborns served as controls. MEASUREMENTS: Antibodies to B. burgdorferi were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Proliferation of peripheral blood lymphocytes cultured for 5 days with B. burgdorferi, recall antigens, or pokeweed mitogen was measured by radioactive thymidine uptake. RESULTS: Lymphocytes from 11 patients with Lyme disease, 8 healthy seronegative controls, and two newborns showed elevated responses when stimulated with B. burgdorferi. When a patient and a control were studied on the same day, the patient's lymphocyte response to B. burgdorferi exceeded the control's in only 5 of 12 cases. Lymphocytes from both patients and controls responded to B. burgdorferi isolates from three different sources. CONCLUSIONS: Heightened lymphocyte responses to B. burgdorferi are found in patients with Lyme disease but elevated responses also frequently occur in healthy controls. At present, the interpretation of a positive lymphocyte response to B. burgdorferi would be difficult in ambiguous clinical situations.
Authors: Paul G Auwaerter; Johan S Bakken; Raymond J Dattwyler; J Stephen Dumler; John J Halperin; Edward McSweegan; Robert B Nadelman; Susan O'Connell; Eugene D Shapiro; Sunil K Sood; Allen C Steere; Arthur Weinstein; Gary P Wormser Journal: Lancet Infect Dis Date: 2011-09 Impact factor: 25.071
Authors: Steven M Callister; Dean A Jobe; Aleksandra Stuparic-Stancic; Misato Miyamasu; Jeff Boyle; Raymond J Dattwyler; Paul M Arnaboldi Journal: Clin Infect Dis Date: 2016-03-01 Impact factor: 9.079