Negative Finding in Cross‐Protective Activity of JapaneseBorreliaIsolates against Infection with Three Species of Lyme DiseaseBorreliain Outbred Mice

Abstract

Outer surface protein A (OspA) is the most promising candidate for a component vaccine against Lyme disease caused by Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato. Active cross-protection using a whole-cell vaccine prepared from strains belonging various OspA serotypes observed in Japan and worldwide was examined. No cross-protection was obtained by heterologous OspA-serotype vaccines. Since OspA is a highly variable protein expressed by Borrelia, this suggests that immunologically different OspA serotypes need to be combined for the development of an effective vaccine in Japan.

Protection Elicited by Native Outer Membrane Protein Oms66 (p66) against Host-AdaptedBorrelia burgdorferi: Conformational Nature of Bactericidal Epitopes

“…In fact, the OspA vaccine reduces the risk of acquiring Lyme disease by only 49 to 68% after two injections and by 76 to 92% after three injections (40,43). In addition, protection against heterologous strains may be limited (24,29). Because of these concerns about the OspA vaccine, there has been a search for additional protective immunogens.…”