Preliminary characterization of Borrelia burgdorferi CSF isolates

Borrelia burgdorferi was cultivated from three cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples of children (aged three and a half, four and a half and eight years) who were admitted to the hospital because of acute facial palsy, aseptic meningitis, and aseptic meningitis plus facial palsy. CSF was taken on day one in two cases and on day two in the remaining case after onset of symptoms. All three strains showed a very similar SDS-PAGE pattern, without an OspB and 20kD band. However, of nine monoclonal antibodies (Moab) raised against B. burgdorferi B31, the Moab H5332 recognized two strains, one of them very weakly, and the flagella specific Moabs H9724, H605, and H6TS (less intensively) recognized all strains. This preliminary characterization reveals heterogeneity among CSF Borrelia isolates of cases from a very close geographic area.