Borrelia miyamotoi DNA in a patient suspected of Lyme borreliosis

Abstract

Background Clinical manifestations in infection caused by B. miyamotoi can mimick highly variable symptoms of Lyme disease. The aim of our studies was to detect DNA of B. miyamotoi spirochetes in clinical materials from patients suspected of neuroborreliosis(retrospectively).Methods Samples of blood serum and cerebrospinal fluid were collected from 133 patients with clinical manifestations of neuroborreliosis. Diagnosis was established by detection of IgM and / or IgG specific antibodies to B. burgdorferi with ELISA in both sera and CSF. Specificity of positive ELISA results in sera were confirmed with Western-blot test. Bacterial DNA from the collected material was extracted, amplified and sequenced.Results Among 133 patients with clinical manifestations of neuroborreliosis recognized in the years 2010-2018., DNA of B. miyamotoi was detected in CSF from 1 (0.8%) patient with extraocular optic neuritis of the left eye (GenBank accession No. MK674170 and MK674171).Conclusion Detection of B. miyamotoi in patients with central nervous system infections, will allow a better understanding of the epidemiology of infections caused by Borrelia sp. spirochetes. Patients with neurological symptoms and questionable serological findings are a serious diagnostic problem, due to failure to meet the criteria for neuroboreliosis. This indicates the need for further studies of patients with signs of CNS infection.

Abundance of Ixodes ricinus Ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) and the Diversity of Borrelia Species in Northeastern Poland

“…Despite the low prevalence of B. miyamotoi in I. ricinus in northeastern Poland, the authors strongly agree with the conclusion [ 40 , 54 , 55 ] that B. miyamotoi disease (BMD) should not be underestimated. The number of confirmed symptomatic and asymptomatic cases of BMD in Europe is steadily increasing and has been diagnosed so far in 50 patients, including one patient in Poland [ 20 , 26 ]. Therefore, physicians should be aware of B. miyamotoi infections among patients with unspecific feverish illness or with neurological symptoms that do not meet the criteria for neuroborreliosis (anti- Borrelia antibodies detected only in serum) [ 86 ].…”

“…Since 2011, when the first symptomatic case of human infection was recorded in Russia, B. miyamotoi has been classified as a human pathogen [ 22 ]. Further cases of human infection were reported in the USA [ 23 , 24 ], Europe (the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Sweden, and France) [ 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 ], and Asia [ 29 , 30 , 31 ].…”