Human Lyme arthritis and the immunoglobulin G antibody response to the 37-kilodalton arthritis-related protein of Borrelia burgdorferi.

ABSTRACT: In Borrelia burgdorferi-infected C3H-scid mice, antiserum to a differentially expressed, 37-kDa spirochetal outer-surface protein, termed arthritis-related protein (Arp), has been shown to prevent or reduce the severity of arthritis. In this study, we determined the immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibody responses to this spirochetal protein in single serum samples from 124 antibiotic-treated human patients with early or late manifestations of Lyme disease and in serial serum samples from 20 historic, untreated patients who were followed longitudinally from early infection through the period of arthritis. These 20 patients were representative of the spectrum of the severity and duration of Lyme arthritis. Among the 124 antibiotic-treated patients, 53% with culture-proven erythema migrans (EM) had

SUBMITTER: Salazar CA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1087337 | biostudies-literature | 2005 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature