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Clinical and Vaccine Immunology, April 2006, p. 525-529, Vol. 13, No. 4
1071-412X/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/CVI.13.4.525-529.2006
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

A Decrease in the Immunoglobulin G Antibody Response against the VlsE Protein of Borrelia burgdorferi Sensu Lato Correlates with the Resolution of Clinical Signs in Antibiotic-Treated Patients with Early Lyme Disease

Section of Microbiology-DMCSS, University of Bologna, Bologna,¹ Centro di Riferimento Regionale per le Emergenze Microbiologiche, Ospedale Policlinico S. Orsola, Bologna,² Division of Infectious Diseases, Ospedale di Belluno, Belluno, Italy³

Received 4 November 2005/ Returned for modification 30 December 2005/ Accepted 2 February 2006

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic performance of the LIAISON Borrelia Screen (Diasorin, Saluggia, Italy), a new automated immunoassay based on the chemiluminescent technology (chemiluminescence immunoassay). To assess whether a decrease in a negative value in the anti-VlsE immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibody titer was correlated with a positive response to treatment, a group of serially collected serum samples from 67 patients with culture-confirmed erythema migrans was retrospectively studied. All the patients had been treated with antibiotics and were free of disease within 3 to 6 months of follow-up. All the 15 patients who were found to be IgG positive at the time of enrollment and who were bled at least four times during the follow-up became IgG seronegative at 2 to 6 months posttreatment. These results indicate that a decline in the anti-VlsE antibody titer coincides with effective antimicrobial therapy in patients with early localized Lyme disease.

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