Recombinant Antigens In Serological Diagnosis Of Lyme Borreliosis

Lyme borreliosis, an infectious disease caused by tick-borne spirochetes of the Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato complex, is regarded as the most commonly reported vector-borne infection in the Northern Hemisphere. Currently, the basis for laboratory diagnosis of Lyme disease is a two-step serological examination. The first is an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). If the test result is positive or questionable, a Western blot is used as the second phase test. In both methods, the total cell lysates of B. burgdorferi s.l. are used as the main source of antigens. However, the huge diversity of genospecies within B. burgdorferi s.l. and the low degree of preservation of the sequence of their proteins means that using the cell lysates of one of the species is not sufficient to correctly diagnose Lyme disease. Numerous literature reports show that the use of B. burgdorferi s.l. recombinant or chimeric antigens may be a potential solution to problems occurring in Lyme disease immunodiagnosis. However, for diagnostic tests based on recombinant proteins to be as effective as possible, carefully selected antigens or fragments should be used. With this approach, a test can be developed with a sensitivity that remains independent of the B. burgdorferi s.l. species which caused the disease. In addition, the exclusive use of protein fragments may definitely reduce the frequency of cross-reactions.