Authors

M. D. Halpern; C. R. Molins; M. Schriefer;M. W. Jewett

Comments

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Abbreviated Journal Title

Clin. Vaccine Immunol.

Keywords

ACQUIRING SURFACE-PROTEINS; BORRELIA-BURGDORFERI; IR6 PEPTIDE; SERODIAGNOSIS; FIBRONECTIN; DIAGNOSIS; ASSAY; VLSE; OSPC; GENE; Immunology; Infectious Diseases; Microbiology

Abstract

A serology-based tiered approach has, to date, provided the most effective means of laboratory confirmation of clinically suspected cases of Lyme disease, but it lacks sensitivity in the early stages of disease and is often dependent on subjectively scored immunoblots. We recently demonstrated the use of immuno-PCR (iPCR) for detecting Borrelia burgdorferi antibodies in patient serum samples that were positive for Lyme disease. To better understand the performance of the Lyme disease iPCR assay, the repeatability and variability of the background of the assay across samples from a healthy population (n = 36) were analyzed. Both of these parameters were found to have coefficients of variation of < 3%. Using eight antigen-specific iPCR assays and positive call thresholds established for each assay, iPCR IgM and/or IgG diagnosis from Lyme disease patient serum samples (n = 12) demonstrated a strong correlation with that of 2-tier testing. Furthermore, a simplified iPCR approach using a single hybrid antigen and detecting only IgG antibodies confirmed the 2-tier diagnosis in the Lyme disease patient serum samples (n = 12). Validation of the hybrid antigen IgG iPCR assay using a blinded panel of Lyme disease and non-Lyme disease patient serum samples (n = 92) resulted in a sensitivity of 69% (95% confidence interval [CI], 50% to 84%), compared to that of the 2-tier analysis at 59% (95% CI, 41% to 76%), and a specificity of 98% (95% CI, 91% to 100%) compared to that of the 2-tier analysis at 97% (95% CI, 88% to 100%). A single-tier hybrid antigen iPCR assay has the potential to be an improved method for detecting host-generated antibodies against B. burgdorferi.

Journal Title

Clinical and Vaccine Immunology

Volume

21

Issue/Number

8

Publication Date

1-1-2014

Document Type

Article

Language

English

First Page

1094

Last Page

1105

WOS Identifier

WOS:000341624000009

ISSN

1556-6811

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