INHIBITION OF THE PRODUCTION OF ANTI-OSPA BORRELIACIDAL ANTIBODY WITHT-CELLS FROM HAMSTERS VACCINATED AGAINST BORRELIA-BURGDORFERI

The serious morbidity associated with Lyme borreliosis has focused con siderable effort on the development of a comprehensive vaccine for pro tection against infection with Borrelia burgdorferi. Induction of borr eliacidal antibody by vaccination or infection has been shown to corre late with protection of humans and animals against infection with the Lyme spirochete. In this report, we showed that high levels of borreli acidal antibody (titer of 1,280) were produced in vitro when T and B c ells from hamsters 14 days after vaccination were incubated with macro phages and B. burgdorferi. By contrast, T and B cells from hamsters 7 or 21 days after vaccination failed to initiate production of borrelia cidal activity. Furthermore, the T cells from hamsters 7 or 21 days af ter vaccination inhibited the in vitro production of borreliacidal ant ibody when cocultured with T and B cells obtained from hamsters 14 day s after vaccination. When cell-free supernatants from the suspensions of T and B cells from hamsters 14 days after vaccination were absorbed with recombinant OspA, they lost nearly all borreliacidal activity. T he removal of anti-OspA antibody resulted in a decrease in borreliacid al titer from 1,280 to less than 4. These results demonstrate that T c ells from vaccinated animals can prevent a sustained production of pro tective borreliacidal antibody.