Evidence for B-lymphocyte mitogen activity in Borrelia burgdorferi-infected mice

Borrelia burgdorferi produces a mitogen for murine B lymphocytes which can be measured in vitro by polyclonal stimulation of proliferation and immunoglobulin production (R. Schoenfeld, B. Araneo, Y. Ma, L. Yang, and J. J. Weis, Infect. Immun. 60:455-464, 1992). Sonicated B. burgdorferi cells also stimulated IL-6 production by splenocyte cultures. We have used the murine model for Lyme disease described by Barthold et al. (S. W. Barthold, D. S. Beck, G. M. Hansen, G. A. Terwilliger, and K. D. Moody, J. Infect. Dis. 162:133-138, 1990) to determine whether the B. burgdorferi B-cell mitogen is expressed during active infection. To correlate arthritic changes with immune events, we have studied two strains of mice injected with B. burgdorferi; one of them, C3H/HeJ, developed severe disease, and the other, BALB/c, developed only mild disease. C3H/HeJ mice displayed a persistent 10-fold increase in circulating immunoglobulin G (IgG) levels, a 2-fold increase in IgM levels, and a 15-fold increase in peripheral lymph node B-cell numbers, providing evidence of mitogenic activity. Infected BALB/c mice also had evidence for mitogen activity, since the IgG level in serum increased three- to fourfold. The bulk of the increase in circulating IgG levels was not directed against B. burgdorferi antigens, supporting the occurrence of polyclonal B-cell activation. Analysis of IgG isotypes pointed out a contrast between C3H/HeJ and BALB/c mice in that levels of all isotypes were elevated somewhat in both strains of infected mice but IgG2a levels were much more dramatically increased in the C3H/HeJ mice (28-fold) than in the BALB/c mice (4-fold). In this study, interleukin-6 levels were found to be persistently elevated in the serum of infected C3H/HeJ mice. Interestingly, interleukin-6 levels in serum were much lower in the infected BALB/c mice. These findings indicate that the B. burgdorferi mitogen is active in infected animals and may contribute to the inflammatory and immune response to infection.