Table 1.
Study participant characteristics and complement marker results
| SB | LNB | Difference | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Variable | p value | |||
| N | 60 | 22 | ||
| Age, years | ||||
| Median (range) | 51 (20–68) | 66 (18–82) | < 0.001 | |
| Sex | ||||
| Female | 12 (20) | 11 (50) | ||
| Male | 48 (80) | 11 (50) | 0.012 | |
| Seropositive for anti-Borrelia IgG antibodiesa | ||||
| No | 0 (0.0) | 15 (68.2) | ||
| Yes | 60 (100.0) | 7 (31.8) | – | |
| C3, g/L | ||||
| Median (range) | 1.02 (0.65–2.98) | 1.05 (0.72–1.54) | 0.743 | |
| C3a/C3 ratio × 1000 (ACA1) | ||||
| Median (range) | 5.2 (0.3–25.6) | 2.2 (0.5–11.6) | < 0.001 | |
| C3a/C3 ratio × 1000 (Lu59) | ||||
| Median (range) | 9.2 (3.3–39.5) | 7.4 (3.8–29.5) | 0.157 | |
| sC5b-9 (ACA1), mg/L | ||||
| Median (range) | 8.8 (0.5–31.2) | 6.4 (0.8–17.8) | 0.118 | |
| sC5b-9 (Lu59), mg/L | ||||
| Median (range) | 25.1 (7.3–55.9) | 26.3 (10.7–49.0) | 0.870 | |
aSeropositive for anti-Borrelia antibodies according to the manufacturer’s (Mikrogen GmbH, Neuried, Germany) scoring system at the time of inclusion in this study. N, number of cases; SB, subclinical individuals; LNB, Lyme neuroborreliosis