Summary
The presence ofBorrelia burgdorferi DNA was established by PCR from urine samples of 97 patients clinically diagnosed as presenting with symptoms of chronic Lyme disease. All patients had shown erythema chronica migrans following a deer tick bite. Most of the patients had been antibiotic-treated for extended periods of time. We used three sets of primer pairs with DNA sequences for the gene coding of outer surface protein A (OspA) and of a genomic sequence ofB. burgdorferi to study samples of physician-referred patients from the mideastern USA. Controls from 62 healthy volunteers of the same geographic areas were routinely carried through the procedures in parallel with patients' samples. Of the 97 patients, 72 (74.2%) were found with positive PCR and the rest with negative PCR. The 62 healthy volunteers were PCR negative. It is proposed that a sizeable group of patients diagnosed on clinical grounds as having chronic Lyme disease may still excreteBorrelia DNA, and may do so in spite of intensive antibiotic treatment.
Zusammenfassung
Bei 97 Patienten mit klinisch verifizierter chronischer Lyme-Krankheit wurde mittels PCR in Urinproben nachBorrelia burgdorferi-DNA gesucht. Bei allen Patienten war nach Zeckenstich ein Erythema chronicum migrans aufgetreten. Bei den meisten Patienten war eine langfristige Antibiotikabehandlung erfolgt. Wir verwendeten drei Primerpaare mit DNA-Sequenzen für das Gen, das für das Oberflächenprotein A (OSP A) kodiert und für eine genomische Sequenz vonB. burgdorferi, um Proben von Patienten zu untersuchen, die von Ärzten aus dem mittleren Osten der USA überwiesen worden waren. Proben von 62 gesunden Freiwilligen derselben geographischen Regionen wurden routinemäßig parallel zu den Patientenproben getestet. 72 der 92 Patienten (74,2%) hatten ein positives Testergebnis, die übrigen waren negativ. Auch die 62 Probanden waren PCR-negativ. Ein beträchtlicher Anteil der Patienten mit klinisch diagnostizierter Krankheit scheidet offensichtlichBorrelia DNA aus, auch wenn eine intensive Antibiotikatherapie vorausgegangen ist.
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Bayer, M.E., Zhang, L. & Bayer, M.H. Borrelia burgdorferi DNA in the urine of treated patients with chronic lyme disease symptoms. A PCR study of 97 cases. Infection 24, 347–353 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01716077
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01716077