Isolation of live Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato spirochetes from patients with undefined disorders and symptoms not typical for Lyme borreliosis.
Rudenko, N, et al Clin Microbiol Infect. 2015 Dec 7. pii: S1198-743X(15)00991-X. doi: 10.1016/j.cmi.2015.11.009.
Abstract
Lyme borreliosis is a multisystem disorder with diverse spectrum of clinical manifestations, caused by spirochetes of the Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato complex. It is an infectious disease that can be successfully cured by antibiotic therapy on early stages; however, the possibility of appearance of persistent signs and symptoms of disease following antibiotic treatment is recognized today. It is known that Lyme borreliosis is mimicking multiple diseases that were never proven to have a spirochete etiology. Using complete modified Kelly-Pettenkofer medium we succeeded in cultivation of live B. burgdorferi sensu lato spirochetes from samples of humans who suffered from undefined disorders, had symptoms not typical for Lyme borreliosis, but undergone antibiotic treatment due to suspicion of having Lyme disease even though they were seronegative. We report the first recovery of live Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto from residents of southeastern United States and first successful cultivation of live Borrelia bissettii-like strain from resident of North America. Our results support the fact that B. bissettii is responsible for human Lyme borreliosis worldwide along with B. burgdorferi s.s. Involvement of new spirochete species in Lyme borreliosis changes the understanding and recognition of clinical manifestations of this disease.