Similarities in murine infection and immune response to Borrelia bissettii and Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto.

Similarities in murine infection and immune response to Borrelia bissettii and Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto. Microbiology. 2015 Sep 28; Authors: Leydet BF, Liang FT Abstract Three decades ago Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto (ss) was identified as the etiologic agent of Lyme disease. Since then an increasing number of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (sl) species have been isolated in the United States. To date, many of these species remain understudied despite mounting evidence associating them with human illness. Borrelia bissettii is a spirochete closely related to B. burgdorferi that has been loosely associated with human illness. Using an experimental murine infection model, we compared the infectivity and humoral immune response to a North American isolate of B. bissettii and B. burgdorferi using culture, molecular and serological methods. Our original B. bissettii cultures were unable to infect immunocompetent mice, but were confirmed infectious after adaptation in immunodeficient animals. Borrelia bissettii infection resulted in spirochete burdens similar to B. burgdorferi in skin, heart and bladder whereas significantly lower burdens were observed in the joint tissues. Borrelia bissettii induced an antibody response similar to B. burgdorferi as measured by both immunoblotting and the C6 enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Additionally, this isolate of B. bissettii was subjected to Next Generation Sequencing on the Ion ...
Source: Microbiology - Category: Microbiology Authors: Tags: Microbiology Source Type: research