Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Journal of Clinical Microbiology logoLink to Journal of Clinical Microbiology
. 1990 May;28(5):890–893. doi: 10.1128/jcm.28.5.890-893.1990

Serologic analyses of cottontail rabbits for antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi.

L A Magnarelli 1, J F Anderson 1, J B McAninch 1
PMCID: PMC267831  PMID: 2351732

Abstract

An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was developed to detect antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi in cottontail rabbits captured in Millbrook, N.Y., and New York, N.Y. Five antigenically variable strains of B. burgdorferi were analyzed to determine the variability of serologic test results. In analyses of 79 serum samples, seropositivity ranged from 56% for a strain cultured from kidney tissues of a cottontail rabbit to 68% for a strain isolated from a larva of Ixodes dentatus, a tick that parasitized a cottontail rabbit. There were false-positive results when reference rabbit antisera to B. hermsii and Treponema pallidum were screened against B. burgdorferi. Cross-reactivity with antisera to Leptospira interrogans serovars was less pronounced. Western blot (immunoblot) analyses revealed reactivities of test sera to two or more surface or subsurface proteins of B. burgdorferi with approximate molecular masses of 18, 25 to 27, 34, 36, 41, and 59 kilodaltons. Cottontail rabbits respond immunologically to B. burgdorferi, but the observed variations in serologic test results should not be a limitation in field and laboratory investigations of Lyme borreliosis.

Full text

PDF
890

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Anderson J. F., Magnarelli L. A. Avian and mammalian hosts for spirochete-infected ticks and insects in a Lyme disease focus in Connecticut. Yale J Biol Med. 1984 Jul-Aug;57(4):627–641. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Anderson J. F., Magnarelli L. A., Burgdorfer W., Barbour A. G. Spirochetes in Ixodes dammini and mammals from Connecticut. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 1983 Jul;32(4):818–824. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.1983.32.818. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Anderson J. F., Magnarelli L. A., LeFebvre R. B., Andreadis T. G., McAninch J. B., Perng G. C., Johnson R. C. Antigenically variable Borrelia burgdorferi isolated from cottontail rabbits and Ixodes dentatus in rural and urban areas. J Clin Microbiol. 1989 Jan;27(1):13–20. doi: 10.1128/jcm.27.1.13-20.1989. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Asbrink E., Hederstedt B., Hovmark A. The spirochetal etiology of erythema chronicum migrans Afzelius. Acta Derm Venereol. 1984;64(4):291–295. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Asbrink E., Hovmark A., Hederstedt B. The spirochetal etiology of acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans Herxheimer. Acta Derm Venereol. 1984;64(6):506–512. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Barbour A. G., Hayes S. F. Biology of Borrelia species. Microbiol Rev. 1986 Dec;50(4):381–400. doi: 10.1128/mr.50.4.381-400.1986. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Barbour A. G., Heiland R. A., Howe T. R. Heterogeneity of major proteins in Lyme disease borreliae: a molecular analysis of North American and European isolates. J Infect Dis. 1985 Sep;152(3):478–484. doi: 10.1093/infdis/152.3.478. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Bissett M. L., Hill W. Characterization of Borrelia burgdorferi strains isolated from Ixodes pacificus ticks in California. J Clin Microbiol. 1987 Dec;25(12):2296–2301. doi: 10.1128/jcm.25.12.2296-2301.1987. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Burgdorfer W., Barbour A. G., Hayes S. F., Benach J. L., Grunwaldt E., Davis J. P. Lyme disease-a tick-borne spirochetosis? Science. 1982 Jun 18;216(4552):1317–1319. doi: 10.1126/science.7043737. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Burgdorfer W. The New Zealand white rabbit: an experimental host for infecting ticks with Lyme disease spirochetes. Yale J Biol Med. 1984 Jul-Aug;57(4):609–612. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Coleman J. L., Benach J. L. Isolation of antigenic components from the Lyme disease spirochete: their role in early diagnosis. J Infect Dis. 1987 Apr;155(4):756–765. doi: 10.1093/infdis/155.4.756. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Craft J. E., Fischer D. K., Shimamoto G. T., Steere A. C. Antigens of Borrelia burgdorferi recognized during Lyme disease. Appearance of a new immunoglobulin M response and expansion of the immunoglobulin G response late in the illness. J Clin Invest. 1986 Oct;78(4):934–939. doi: 10.1172/JCI112683. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Grodzicki R. L., Steere A. C. Comparison of immunoblotting and indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay using different antigen preparations for diagnosing early Lyme disease. J Infect Dis. 1988 Apr;157(4):790–797. doi: 10.1093/infdis/157.4.790. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Hansen K., Hindersson P., Pedersen N. S. Measurement of antibodies to the Borrelia burgdorferi flagellum improves serodiagnosis in Lyme disease. J Clin Microbiol. 1988 Feb;26(2):338–346. doi: 10.1128/jcm.26.2.338-346.1988. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Kornblatt A. N., Steere A. C., Brownstein D. G. Experimental Lyme disease in rabbits: spirochetes found in erythema migrans and blood. Infect Immun. 1984 Oct;46(1):220–223. doi: 10.1128/iai.46.1.220-223.1984. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Lane R. S., Burgdorfer W. Spirochetes in mammals and ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) from a focus of Lyme borreliosis in California. J Wildl Dis. 1988 Jan;24(1):1–9. doi: 10.7589/0090-3558-24.1.1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Lane R. S., Pascocello J. A. Antigenic characteristics of Borrelia burgdorferi isolates from ixodid ticks in California. J Clin Microbiol. 1989 Oct;27(10):2344–2349. doi: 10.1128/jcm.27.10.2344-2349.1989. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Magnarelli L. A., Anderson J. F., Apperson C. S., Fish D., Johnson R. C., Chappell W. A. Spirochetes in ticks and antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi in white-tailed deer from Connecticut, New York State, and North Carolina. J Wildl Dis. 1986 Apr;22(2):178–188. doi: 10.7589/0090-3558-22.2.178. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Magnarelli L. A., Anderson J. F., Barbour A. G. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays for Lyme disease: reactivity of subunits of Borrelia burgdorferi. J Infect Dis. 1989 Jan;159(1):43–49. doi: 10.1093/infdis/159.1.43. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Magnarelli L. A., Anderson J. F., Johnson R. C. Cross-reactivity in serological tests for Lyme disease and other spirochetal infections. J Infect Dis. 1987 Jul;156(1):183–188. doi: 10.1093/infdis/156.1.183. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Magnarelli L. A., Meegan J. M., Anderson J. F., Chappell W. A. Comparison of an indirect fluorescent-antibody test with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for serological studies of Lyme disease. J Clin Microbiol. 1984 Aug;20(2):181–184. doi: 10.1128/jcm.20.2.181-184.1984. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Steere A. C., Grodzicki R. L., Kornblatt A. N., Craft J. E., Barbour A. G., Burgdorfer W., Schmid G. P., Johnson E., Malawista S. E. The spirochetal etiology of Lyme disease. N Engl J Med. 1983 Mar 31;308(13):733–740. doi: 10.1056/NEJM198303313081301. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Telford S. R., 3rd, Spielman A. Competence of a rabbit-feeding Ixodes (Acari: Ixodidae) as a vector of the Lyme disease spirochete. J Med Entomol. 1989 Mar;26(2):118–121. doi: 10.1093/jmedent/26.2.118. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Telford S. R., 3rd, Spielman A. Enzootic transmission of the agent of Lyme disease in rabbits. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 1989 Oct;41(4):482–490. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.1989.41.482. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Wilske B., Preac-Mursic V., Schierz G. Antigenic heterogeneity of European Borrelia burgdorferi strains isolated from patients and ticks. Lancet. 1985 May 11;1(8437):1099–1099. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(85)92396-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Wilske B., Preac-Mursic V., Schierz G., Busch K. V. Immunochemical and immunological analysis of European Borrelia burgdorferi strains. Zentralbl Bakteriol Mikrobiol Hyg A. 1986 Dec;263(1-2):92–102. doi: 10.1016/s0176-6724(86)80108-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Wilske B., Preac-Mursic V., Schierz G., Kühbeck R., Barbour A. G., Kramer M. Antigenic variability of Borrelia burgdorferi. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1988;539:126–143. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1988.tb31846.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Wilske B., Schierz G., Preac-Mursic V., Weber K., Pfister H. W., Einhäupl K. Serological diagnosis of erythema migrans disease and related disorders. Infection. 1984 Sep-Oct;12(5):331–337. doi: 10.1007/BF01651147. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Clinical Microbiology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES