Ishihara M, Ishida T, Isogai E, Kimura K, Oritsu M, Matsui Y, Isogai H, Ohno S
Department of Ophthalomolgy, Yokohama City University School of Medicine, Kanagawa, Japan.
Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol. 1996 Dec;234(12):770-3. doi: 10.1007/BF00189360.
Lyme disease is a multisystemic disorder caused by the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi, while sarcoidosis is a multisystemic granulomatous disease of unknown etiology. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between Lyme disease and sarcoidosis.
We examined the seroprevalence of antibody to Borellia species in patients with sarcoidosis. We performed the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, using three Japanese Borrelia species in addition to B. burgdorferi, and dotblot analysis using purified Borrelia-specific proteins in 38 patients with histopathologically confirmed sarcoidosis and 80 healthy controls.
Two patients (5.3%) were positive for antibodies to Borrelia species according to one or both assays, and one (1.2%) healthy control was positive. In both patients it was suspected that Borrelia infection had developed prior to the development of sarcoidosis.
Borrelia species were thought not to be responsible for the development of sarcoidosis in a nonendemic region in Japan. Since clinical manifestations of Lyme disease share certain similarities with those seen in sarcoidosis, ophthalmologists should be aware of the need to differentiate between the two diseases and the need for prompt treatment in each case.
莱姆病是一种由伯氏疏螺旋体引起的多系统疾病，而结节病是一种病因不明的多系统肉芽肿性疾病。本研究的目的是评估莱姆病与结节病之间的关系。
我们检测了结节病患者中抗伯氏疏螺旋体抗体的血清阳性率。我们进行了酶联免疫吸附测定，除了伯氏疏螺旋体外，还使用了三种日本伯氏疏螺旋体，并对38例经组织病理学确诊的结节病患者和80例健康对照者进行了使用纯化的伯氏疏螺旋体特异性蛋白的斑点印迹分析。
根据一项或两项检测，两名患者（5.3%）抗伯氏疏螺旋体抗体呈阳性，一名健康对照者（1.2%）呈阳性。在这两名患者中，均怀疑在结节病发生之前已发生伯氏疏螺旋体感染。
在日本的非流行地区，伯氏疏螺旋体被认为与结节病的发生无关。由于莱姆病的临床表现与结节病有某些相似之处，眼科医生应意识到需要区分这两种疾病，并在每种情况下都需要及时治疗。
