Comparison of an automated Borrelia indirect chemiluminescent immunoassay (CLIA) with a VlsE/C6 ELISA and Immunoblot

Excerpt

The Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato complex consists of eleven different species [1]. B. burgdorferi sensu stricto are isolated from patients both in North America and Europe, whereas B. garinii and B. afzelii are mainly found in Europe. The complete genome of B. burgdorferi has been sequenced and recent years a growing body of knowledge on important surface proteins has accumulated [2]. Borrelia Outer surface protein C (OspC) [3] and Vmp-like sequence expressed (VlsE) [4] are two plasmid encoded membrane proteins that both are immunodominant antigens. Furthermore, VlsE consists of one invariable region (IR6), which is extraordinary immunodominant [5, 6]. Other antigens that have been useful in serology are p39 and p83 [7]. Proteins that only are expressed in vivo are, for example, protein G, BBA36, and BB0323 with to date unknown functions, and finally the factor H binding protein Crasp3. …