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Updated: Sep 11, 2026
Detecting the Lyme Disease Spirochete, Borrelia Burgdorferi, in Ticks Using Nested PCR
Published on: February 4, 2018
The laboratory diagnosis of ocular Lyme borreliosis
H Mikkilä1, A Karma, M Viljanen
1Department of Ophthalmology, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Finland.
Background:
A study was carried out to evaluate indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), immunoblot analysis, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in the diagnostic work-up of ocular Lyme borreliosis.
Methods:
Twenty patients with ocular Lyme borreliosis were examined. IgG and IgM antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi were measured by ELISA in serum, and in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) when indicated, and immunoblot analysis of B. burgdorferi IgG antibodies in serum was performed. A nested PCR was used to detect a segment of a gene coding for B. burgdorferi endoflagellin. The samples used in PCR testing were serum and CSF and in isolated cases conjunctiva and vitreous.
Results:
Seventeen patients had elevated Borrelia antibodies in serum or CSF by ELISA. Seven patients, including two with negative ELISA, had a positive immunoblot. Seven of the 13 patients in whom PCR was examined during clinically active disease had a positive PCR result. Immunoblot analysis gave a negative result from the sera of five PCR-positive patients.
Conclusions:
For efficient diagnosis of ocular Lyme borreliosis, immunoblot analysis and PCR should be used in addition to ELISA. A positive PCR seems to be associated with a negative immunoblot.
