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Lyme disease is an infectious, multi-system, tick-borne disease caused by genospecies of Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria sensu lato, characterized by remarkable heterogeneity. In this situation choosing an optimal antigen array for diagnostic tests seems problematic. The serological tests for borrelia routinely done in laboratories often produce ambiguous results, which makes a proper diagnosis rather complicated and thus delays the implementation of an appropriate treatment regimen. Thirty-seven outpatients and eight inpatients with suspected borreliosis diagnosis hospitalized at the Clinics of the Pomeranian Medical University (Szczecin, Poland), participated in the study. In order to detect the antibodies against Borrelia sensu lato three kinds of serological tests were used: indirect immunofluorescence assay (IIFA), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and immunoblot. The IIFA and immunoblot tests conducted on 45 patients (100%) produced positive results for both the IgM and IgG antibody types. In the case of ELISA, positive or borderline results were observed in only 24 patients (53.3%). The immunoblot test for IgM most frequently detected antibodies against the outer surface protein C (OspC) antigen (p25), and, in the case of IgG, against the recombinant variable surface antigen (VlsE). The IIFA screening test used for diagnosing Lyme borreliosis produced the highest percentage of positive results, which were then confirmed by immunoblot, but not by ELISA. Therefore using only ELISA as a screening test or for diagnosing Lyme borreliosis seems debatable.

It has been widely accepted that obesity is associated with chronic, low-grade inflammation that affects the adipose tissue as well as the entire system. The aim of this study was to assess whether past Chlamydia pneumoniae infection influences obesity phenotypes and serum levels of low-grade inflammation markers in obese, healthy premenopausal women. The study was performed on 48 obese and 42 normal-weight women, aged 31.2 +/- 7.2 years. Serum levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha) and its soluble receptor R2 (sTNF-R2), and interleukin 6 (IL-6) were measured. Body composition was assessed by bioimpendance. Insulin sensitivity was assessed by quantitative insulin sensitivity check index (QUICKI). The seroprevalence of C. pneumoniae infection was 69.1% and was similar in obese and normal-weight women (75.2% and 61.9%, respectively; P = 0.18). Obese women had higher CRP than healthy controls (P < 0.05). IL-6, TNFalpha, and sTNF-R2 showed no significant differences when comparing obese and normal-weight or C. pneumoniae infected and uninfected women. In multivariate regression analysis, fat mass (P < 0.001) and QUICKI (P < 0.01), accounting for 35% of the variance of CRP and C. pneumoniae infection, did not significantly contribute to this model (P = 0.51). In conclusion, past C. pneumoniae infection was not associated with changes in chronic inflammation markers in premenopausal obese women.

IntroductionInflammatory conditions modulated by Chlamydophila (Chlamydia) pneumoniae are considered to play an important role in the onset of atherosclerosis. In this paper we present the results of progressive observation of C. pneumoniae antibody titres in patients who underwent coronary artery bypass graft (CABG).Material and methodsThe objective of our research was a prospective observation of antibody titres in IgA and IgG class antibodies against C. pneumoniae using indirect immunofluorescence in a group of 155 post-surgery CABG patients suffering from heart ischaemia. The microbiological test results were compared with patients’ present coronary complaints evaluated on the CCS scale during a six-year period.ResultsSix years after CABG, 128 patients (82.6%) are still alive. During the study a positive serological conversion of antibody titres was observed in 36 patients in the IgA class antibodies, and in 26 patients in the IgG class. The group of patients with no antibodies against C. pneumoniae decreased from 23.2 to 3.4%, while the group of patients with antibodies in both IgG and IgA classes increased from 52.3 to 83.9%. The average CCS degree decreased from 3.18 before CABG to 1.65 in the present study.ConclusionsThese results show no connection between the serological symptoms of chronic C. pneumoniae infection and coronary complaints evaluated on the CCS scale during a six-year study on post-CABG patients suffering from heart ischaemia. The surgical treatment of heart ischaemia brought about long-term improvement in the coronary condition of the observed group of patients.