Clinical and Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology, July 1998, p. 503-506, Vol. 5, No. 4
1071-412X/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Immunology Laboratory,
Received 18 February 1998/Returned for modification 30 March
1998/Accepted 13 May 1998
Two commercially available serologic tests for use in diagnosing
Lyme borreliosis were evaluated by using a test panel comprised of sera
from patients diagnosed with Lyme borreliosis, non-Lyme disease
controls, and healthy subjects. The test methods examined were a
Western blot assay and an immunodot assay. The study was initiated to
determine how the immunodot assay, which contains purified and
recombinant proteins to those borrelial antigens recommended for
immunoglobulin M (IgM) detection in the Dearborn criteria, would
compare with the Western blot assay as a confirmatory method for
serologic diagnosis of Lyme borreliosis. Results obtained showed that
the two test methods performed comparably for detecting IgG antibodies.
For IgM antibody detection, the immunodot and Western blot assays had
similar sensitivities; however, the immunodot assay was more specific
and had greater positive predictive value than the Western blot assay.
The results obtained indicate that the immunodot assay performs as well
as or better than the Western blot assay for diagnosing Lyme
borreliosis. Furthermore, because it uses a limited panel
(n = 5) of antigens, the immunodot is easier to
read and interpret than standard Western blots.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: duPont Hospital
for Children, Department of Clinical Science, P.O. Box 269, Wilmington, DE 19899. Phone: (302) 651-6776. Fax: (302) 651-6881. E-mail: pfawcett{at}nemours.org.
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