Lazarus John J, McCarter Akisha L, Neifer-Sadhwani Kari, Wooten R Mark
Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, University of Toledo College of Medicine, Toledo, OH 43614, USA.
Clin Dev Immunol. 2012;2012:138069. doi: 10.1155/2012/138069. Epub 2011 Oct 26.
Borrelia burgdorferi is a spirochetal bacterium that causes Lyme disease. These studies address whether current research methods using either ELISA to detect seroconversion to B. burgdorferi antigens or PCR quantification of bacterial DNA within tissues can accurately distinguish between a productive infection versus a B. burgdorferi exposure that is rapidly cleared by the innate responses. Mice receiving even minimal doses of live B. burgdorferi produced significantly more B. burgdorferi-specific IgM and IgG than groups receiving large inocula of heat-killed bacteria. Additionally, sera from mice injected with varied doses of killed B. burgdorferi recognized unique borrelial antigens compared to mice infected with live B. burgdorferi. Intradermal injection of killed B. burgdorferi resulted in rapid DNA clearance from skin, whereas DNA was consistently detected in skin inoculated with viable B. burgdorferi. These data indicate that both ELISA-based serological analyses and PCR-based methods of assessing B. burgdorferi infection clearly distinguish between an established infection with live bacteria and exposure to large numbers of bacteria that are promptly cleared by the innate responses.
伯氏疏螺旋体是一种引起莱姆病的螺旋体细菌。这些研究探讨了当前使用酶联免疫吸附测定（ELISA）检测针对伯氏疏螺旋体抗原的血清转化或组织内细菌DNA的聚合酶链反应（PCR）定量的研究方法，是否能够准确区分有活性的感染与被先天免疫反应迅速清除的伯氏疏螺旋体暴露。接受即使是最小剂量活伯氏疏螺旋体的小鼠，产生的伯氏疏螺旋体特异性IgM和IgG比接受大量热灭活细菌接种的组显著更多。此外，与感染活伯氏疏螺旋体的小鼠相比，注射不同剂量灭活伯氏疏螺旋体的小鼠血清识别独特的疏螺旋体抗原。皮内注射灭活伯氏疏螺旋体导致皮肤中的DNA迅速清除，而在接种活伯氏疏螺旋体的皮肤中持续检测到DNA。这些数据表明，基于ELISA的血清学分析和基于PCR的评估伯氏疏螺旋体感染的方法，都能清楚地区分活细菌的既定感染和暴露于大量被先天免疫反应迅速清除的细菌。
