Title: PCR detection of <i>Borrelia burgdorferi</i> DNA in cerebrospinal fluid of Lyme neuroborreliosis patients
Abstract: We used the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), a method useful in the detection of <i>Borrelia burgdorferi</i> in vitro, to evaluate CSF in patients thought to have neuroborreliosis. Nested pairs of oligonucleotide primers were designed to recognize the C-terminal region of <i>B burgdorferi</i> OspA. CSF samples were obtained from (1) patients with immunologic evidence of systemic <i>B burgdorferi</i> infection and clinical manifestations suggestive of CNS dysfunction, (2) seronegative patients with clinical disorders consistent with Lyme borreliosis, and (3) patient and contamination controls; all were analyzed in a blinded fashion. PCR detected <i>B burgdorferi</i> OspA DNA in CSF of (1) 10 of 11 patients with Lyme encephalopathy, (2) 28 of 37 patients with inflammatory CNS disease, (3) seven of seven seronegative patients with Lyme-compatible disorders, and (4) zero of 23 patient controls. Zero of 83 additional contamination controls were PCR-positive. In eight patients from whom we obtained CSF before and after parenteral antimicrobial therapy, PCR results invariably predicted clinical outcome accurately.
Publication Year: 1992
Publication Date: 1992-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref', 'pubmed']
Access and Citation
Cited By Count: 159
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