Pt. Fawcett et al., DETECTION OF ANTIBODIES TO THE RECOMBINANT P39 PROTEIN OF BORRELIA-BURGDORFERI USING ENZYME-IMMUNOASSAY AND IMMUNOBLOTTING, Journal of rheumatology, 20(4), 1993, pp. 734-738
The diagnostic value of serologic tests using the recombinant P39 prot
ein of Borrelia burgdorferi was compared with that of tests prepared f
rom a whole spirochete antigen source. Immunoassays (ELISA and Western
blot) prepared from either the recombinant protein or whole spirochet
es were evaluated using a test panel comprised of 2 sera groups, one o
btained from patients with clinically diagnosed Lyme disease, the othe
r from individuals with no indication of past or current infection wit
h B. burgdorferi. Results obtained indicate that ELISA screening tests
relying on the recombinant protein are less sensitive than ELISA test
s using whole spirochete antigen preparations. Western blot tests base
d on the P39 protein were more specific than P39 ELISA yielding no fal
se positive or indeterminate results. These findings suggest that the
P39 protein may prove valuable for confirmation testing for Lyme disea
se.