DETECTION OF ANTI-BORRELIA-BURGDORFERI ANTIBODY-RESPONSES WITH THE BORRELIACIDAL ANTIBODY-TEST, INDIRECT FLUORESCENT-ANTIBODY ASSAY PERFORMED BY FLOW-CYTOMETRY, AND WESTERN IMMUNOBLOTTING

Borreliacidal antibodies participate in the resolution of Lyme disease by clearing Borrelia burgdorferi sensu late from the host. Detection of borreliacidal antibodies is also valuable for determination of the specific serodiagnosis of Lyme disease. We show in this work that anti body detected by the borreliacidal antibody test did not correlate wit h antibody detected by the indirect fluorescent-antibody assay or West ern immunoblotting. Detection of borreliacidal antibody decreased with elimination of the spirochete from the host in the presence or absenc e of therapy. By contrast, the antibody responses detected by the indi rect fluorescent-antibody assay or Western immunoblotting remained ele vated or continued to expand, respectively. This suggests that the bor reliacidal antibody test is a prognostic indicator for clearance of th e spirochete. Additional investigations with humans are needed to conf irm the prognostic potential of the borreliacidal antibody test.