DETECTION OF ANTIBODIES TO BORRELIA SPECIES AMONG PATIENTS WITH CONFIRMED SARCOIDOSIS IN A REGION WHERE LYME-DISEASE IS NONENDEMIC

Background: Lyme disease is a multisystemic disorder caused by the spi rochete Borrelia burgdorferi, while sarcoidosis is a multisystemic gra nulomatous disease of unknown etiology. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between Lyme disease and sarcoidosis. Met hods: We examined the seroprevalence of antibody to Borellia species i n patients with sarcoidosis. We performed the enzyme-linked immunosorb ent assay, using three Japanese Borrelia species in addition to B. bur gdorferi, and dotblot analysis using purified Borrelia-specific protei ns in 38 patients with histopathologically confirmed sarcoidosis and 8 0 healthy controls. Results. Two patients (5.3%) were positive for ant ibodies to Borrelia species according to one or both assays, and one ( 1.2%) healthy control was positive. In both patients it was suspected that Borrelia infection had developed prior to the development of sarc oidosis. Conclusion: Borrelia species were thought not to be responsib le for the development of sarcoidosis in a nonendemic region in Japan. Since clinical manifestations of Lyme disease share certain similarit ies with those seen in sarcoidosis, ophthalmologists should be aware o f the need to differentiate between the two diseases and the need for prompt treatment in each case.