1 | Department of Occupational Biohazards, Institute of Agricultural Medicine, Lublin, Poland |
2 | Chair and Department of Biology and Parasitology, Medical University of Lublin, Lublin, Poland |
B. burgdorferi s.l. antigen, the VlsE protein (p<0.000001). The presence of B. burgdorferi s.l. DNA was found by PCR in 20 out 180 examined blood samples (11.1%). No correlation was found to exist between the PCR results and the results of any of the serologic tests for detection of anti B. burgdorferi s.l. antibodies of IgM class. PCR results correlated significantly at a relatively low level (0.01<p<0.05) with the results of IgG-ELISA, but not with the results of IgG-immunoblot with regard to total reactions (0.2<p<0.1). By contrast, a distinctly significant correlation was found between the PCR results and detection of the VlsE protein with IgG-immunoblot (0.001<p<0.01). In conclusion, the results of the present study suggest that antibodies of IgG class are the most reliable marker in laboratory diagnostics of Lyme borreliosis, in particular those directed against VlsE surface protein of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato.