Hagman K E, Yang X, Wikel S K, Schoeler G B, Caimano M J, Radolf J D, Norgard M V
Department of Microbiology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas 75235, USA.
Infect Immun. 2000 Aug;68(8):4759-64. doi: 10.1128/IAI.68.8.4759-4764.2000.
Previous studies showed that decorin-binding protein A (DbpA) of Borrelia burgdorferi was a protective immunogen in the murine model of Lyme borreliosis when mice were challenged (needle inoculated) intradermally with in vitro-cultivated spirochetes. In the present study, DbpA-immunized C3H/HeJ mice were not protected from infection when infested with Ixodes scapularis nymphs harboring virulent B. burgdorferi 297. This lack of protection correlated with the failure to detect DbpA on B. burgdorferi in ticks, suggesting that DbpA is not available as a target for bactericidal antibodies in serum when B. burgdorferi-infected ticks take their blood meal from an immunized host. The failure of DbpA immunization to protect tick-challenged mice contradicts the results of earlier needle inoculation vaccination experiments and suggests that DbpA may not be suitable as a Lyme disease vaccine.
先前的研究表明，当用体外培养的螺旋体对小鼠进行皮内攻击（针刺接种）时，伯氏疏螺旋体的核心蛋白聚糖结合蛋白A（DbpA）在莱姆病螺旋体病的小鼠模型中是一种保护性免疫原。在本研究中，用DbpA免疫的C3H/HeJ小鼠在被携带毒力强的伯氏疏螺旋体297的肩突硬蜱若虫叮咬时未受到感染保护。这种缺乏保护作用与在蜱中未能检测到伯氏疏螺旋体上的DbpA相关，这表明当感染伯氏疏螺旋体的蜱从免疫宿主身上吸血时，DbpA不能作为血清中杀菌抗体的靶点。DbpA免疫未能保护受蜱攻击的小鼠，这与早期针刺接种疫苗实验的结果相矛盾，并表明DbpA可能不适合作莱姆病疫苗。
