Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Journal of Clinical Microbiology logoLink to Journal of Clinical Microbiology
. 1990 Mar;28(3):473–479. doi: 10.1128/jcm.28.3.473-479.1990

Cultivation and characterization of spirochetes from cerebrospinal fluid of patients with Lyme borreliosis.

M Karlsson 1, K Hovind-Hougen 1, B Svenungsson 1, G Stiernstedt 1
PMCID: PMC269647  PMID: 2324275

Abstract

Attempts were made to culture spirochetes from cerebrospinal fluid samples of 105 patients suspected of having Lyme borreliosis with neurological complications. At the final evaluation, only 38 patients fulfilled the criteria of neuroborreliosis. Spirochetes were cultured from cerebrospinal fluid samples of four of these patients. All four patients had pleocytosis in their cerebrospinal fluid and a history of neurological symptoms of only 4 to 10 days in duration. Two of them had no detectable antibodies against any of the isolated spirochetes in their cerebrospinal fluid, both when tested with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and when tested by immunoblotting. An antibody reaction against the homologous isolate that was distinctly stronger than that against the heterologous isolates was found in the serum and cerebrospinal fluid samples from one patient. The cells of the isolates were morphologically similar and showed a very similar protein pattern when analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Cells of all isolates reacted with the monoclonal antibodies H5332 and H9724, which also react with Borrelia burgdorferi B31, the type strain. One isolate lost a major protein of 23 kilodaltons after subcultivation for 4 months. We conclude that isolation of spirochetes from cerebrospinal fluid might prove successful in clinically selected cases of Lyme borreliosis.

Full text

PDF
473

Images in this article

475Image
on p.475
476Image
on p.476
476Image
on p.476
477Image
on p.477

Selected References

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

  1. 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]
  2. 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]
  3. Asbrink E., Hovmark A. Successful cultivation of spirochetes from skin lesions of patients with erythema chronicum migrans Afzelius and acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans. Acta Pathol Microbiol Immunol Scand B. 1985 Apr;93(2):161–163. doi: 10.1111/j.1699-0463.1985.tb02870.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Barbour A. G., Hayes S. F., Heiland R. A., Schrumpf M. E., Tessier S. L. A Borrelia-specific monoclonal antibody binds to a flagellar epitope. Infect Immun. 1986 May;52(2):549–554. doi: 10.1128/iai.52.2.549-554.1986. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. 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]
  6. Barbour A. G., Tessier S. L., Hayes S. F. Variation in a major surface protein of Lyme disease spirochetes. Infect Immun. 1984 Jul;45(1):94–100. doi: 10.1128/iai.45.1.94-100.1984. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Benach J. L., Bosler E. M., Hanrahan J. P., Coleman J. L., Habicht G. S., Bast T. F., Cameron D. J., Ziegler J. L., Barbour A. G., Burgdorfer W. Spirochetes isolated from the blood of two patients with Lyme disease. N Engl J Med. 1983 Mar 31;308(13):740–742. doi: 10.1056/NEJM198303313081302. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. 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]
  9. Hovind-Hougen K., Asbrink E., Stiernstedt G., Steere A. C., Hovmark A. Ultrastructural differences among spirochetes isolated from patients with Lyme disease and related disorders, and from Ixodes ricinus. Zentralbl Bakteriol Mikrobiol Hyg A. 1986 Dec;263(1-2):103–111. doi: 10.1016/s0176-6724(86)80109-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Hovind-Hougen K. Ultrastructure of spirochetes isolated from Ixodes ricinus and Ixodes dammini. Yale J Biol Med. 1984 Jul-Aug;57(4):543–548. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Huppertz H. I., Sticht-Groh V. Meningitis due to Borrelia burgdorferi in the initial stage of Lyme disease. Eur J Pediatr. 1989 Feb;148(5):428–430. doi: 10.1007/BF00595904. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Hyde F. W., Johnson R. C. Genetic analysis of Borrelia. Zentralbl Bakteriol Mikrobiol Hyg A. 1986 Dec;263(1-2):119–122. doi: 10.1016/s0176-6724(86)80111-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Karlsson M., Möllegård I., Stiernstedt G., Wretlind B. Comparison of Western blot and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for diagnosis of Lyme borreliosis. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis. 1989 Oct;8(10):871–877. doi: 10.1007/BF01963773. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. LeFebvre R. B., Perng G. C., Johnson R. C. Characterization of Borrelia burgdorferi isolates by restriction endonuclease analysis and DNA hybridization. J Clin Microbiol. 1989 Apr;27(4):636–639. doi: 10.1128/jcm.27.4.636-639.1989. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Pfister H. W., Preac-Mursic V., Wilske B., Einhäupl K. M., Weinberger K. Latent Lyme neuroborreliosis: presence of Borrelia burgdorferi in the cerebrospinal fluid without concurrent inflammatory signs. Neurology. 1989 Aug;39(8):1118–1120. doi: 10.1212/wnl.39.8.1118. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Preac Mursic V., Wilske B., Schierz G., Pfister H. W., Einhäupl K. Repeated isolation of spirochetes from the cerebrospinal fluid of a patient with meningoradiculitis Bannwarth. Eur J Clin Microbiol. 1984 Dec;3(6):564–565. doi: 10.1007/BF02013623. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Preac-Mursic V., Wilske B., Schierz G. European Borrelia burgdorferi isolated from humans and ticks culture conditions and antibiotic susceptibility. Zentralbl Bakteriol Mikrobiol Hyg A. 1986 Dec;263(1-2):112–118. doi: 10.1016/s0176-6724(86)80110-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Rawlings J. A., Fournier P. V., Teltow G. J. Isolation of Borrelia spirochetes from patients in Texas. J Clin Microbiol. 1987 Jul;25(7):1148–1150. doi: 10.1128/jcm.25.7.1148-1150.1987. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Schmidli J., Hunziker T., Moesli P., Schaad U. B. Cultivation of Borrelia burgdorferi from joint fluid three months after treatment of facial palsy due to Lyme borreliosis. J Infect Dis. 1988 Oct;158(4):905–906. doi: 10.1093/infdis/158.4.905. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Schwan T. G., Burgdorfer W. Antigenic changes of Borrelia burgdorferi as a result of in vitro cultivation. J Infect Dis. 1987 Nov;156(5):852–853. doi: 10.1093/infdis/156.5.852-a. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Sköldenberg B., Stiernstedt G., Gårde A., Kolmodin G., Carlström A., Nord C. E. Chronic meningitis caused by a penicillin-sensitive microorganism? Lancet. 1983 Jul 9;2(8341):75–78. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(83)90061-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Steere A. C., Grodzicki R. L., Craft J. E., Shrestha M., Kornblatt A. N., Malawista S. E. Recovery of Lyme disease spirochetes from patients. Yale J Biol Med. 1984 Jul-Aug;57(4):557–560. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. 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]
  24. Steere A. C., Malawista S. E., Hardin J. A., Ruddy S., Askenase W., Andiman W. A. Erythema chronicum migrans and Lyme arthritis. The enlarging clinical spectrum. Ann Intern Med. 1977 Jun;86(6):685–698. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-86-6-685. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Stiernstedt G. T., Granström M., Hederstedt B., Sköldenberg B. Diagnosis of spirochetal meningitis by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and indirect immunofluorescence assay in serum and cerebrospinal fluid. J Clin Microbiol. 1985 May;21(5):819–825. doi: 10.1128/jcm.21.5.819-825.1985. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Stiernstedt G., Gustafsson R., Karlsson M., Svenungsson B., Sköldenberg B. Clinical manifestations and diagnosis of neuroborreliosis. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1988;539:46–55. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1988.tb31837.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Stiernstedt G. Tick-borne Borrelia infection in Sweden. Scand J Infect Dis Suppl. 1985;45:1–70. doi: 10.3109/inf.1985.17.suppl-45.01. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. 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]

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

RESOURCES