PREDOMINANCE OF 2 BARTONELLA-HENSELAE VARIANTS AMONG CAT-SCRATCH DISEASE PATIENTS IN THE NETHERLANDS

Restriction endonuclease analysis of the PCR-amplified 16S-23S rRNA ge ne spacer region was used to investigate the prevalence of Bartonella henselae variants in samples from cat-scratch disease (CSD) patients, Analysis of spacer PCR fragments from 27 Bartonella DNA-positive sampl es from Dutch patients with CSD with AluI revealed two restriction fra gment length polymorphism (RFLP) patterns, patterns A and B, Twenty sa mples yielded B, henselae pattern A, and 7 samples yielded B, henselae pattern B, Three samples from North American patients with CSD were s hown to contain B. henselae with RFLP pattern B, To be able to detect and differentiate Bartonella DNA in clinical material more sensitively and faster, two B, henselae PCRs which amplify part of the 16S rRNA g ene and which can discriminate between two B, henselae variants were d eveloped, Thirty-two of 41 Bartonella DNA-positive samples from Dutch patients with CSD contained type I B, henselae, 7 samples contained ty pe IIB, henselae, and two samples were negative in both type-specific PCRs, Two samples from North American patients with CSD both contained type II B, henselae, A 100% correlation was found between the AluI sp acer RFLP pattern and the 16S rRNA PCR type, We have shown that Dutch patients with CSD contain a limited number of;B, henselae variants, su ggesting that, in contrast to systemic bartonellosis, CSD in immunocom petent patients is caused by a limited number of B, henselae variants.