Development of an immunoglobulin M capture-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for diagnosis of acute infections with Bartonella henselae.

We describe the development of an immunoglobulin M-specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for the detection of an early antibody response to Bartonella henselae, the causative agent of cat scratch disease, bacillary angiomatosis, and endocarditis. This assay discriminates between B. henselae-positive and -negative patient samples with sensitivity and specificity values of 100% and 97.

Lyme disease associated with Alzheimer's disease.

This case report discusses a patient with co-occurring neuroborreliosis and Alzheimer's disease (AD). Although no claim is made for causality nor is there objective evidence that spirochetes are involved in AD, co-infection may exacerbate the symptoms of either neuroborreliosis or AD. Much is to be learned about the role of spirochetes in degenerative central nervous system disease.

Production of recombinant Bartonella henselae 17-kDa protein for antibody-capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

The Bartonella henselae 17-kDa protein was expressed in a prokaryotic expression system as a histidine-tagged fusion protein and was purified. The target gene was cloned into a recombinant expression construct, pTri-17kd. The expressed protein was purified to near homogeneity by a nickel-agarose column chromatography.

Simultaneous detection of herpes simplex virus types 1 and 2 by real-time PCR and Pyrosequencing.

Background: Up to 80% of the US adult population has been exposed to herpes simplex virus (HSV) type 1, primarily during childhood. Also, approximately 20% of the US population has contracted genital herpes from HSV-2 infections. Clinical symptoms can present as fever, headache, malaise, myalgia, and cold sores/lesions that cause pain, itching, dysuria, and vaginal or urethral discharge.

Serological diagnosis of human babesiosis by IgG enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the detection of IgG antibodies to Babesia microti antigen was developed. B. microti antigens were harvested from experimentally infected hamster blood and used as a coating antigen.

Comparison of Western immunoblotting and the C6 Lyme antibody test for laboratory detection of Lyme disease.

Three commercial Lyme disease Western immunoblotting (WB) kits and the C6 Borrelia burgdorferi (Lyme) enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit were compared using two commercially available performance panels from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Boston Biomedica (BBI). Combined, the panels consisted of 52 characterized specimens. Immunoglobulin G (IgG) sensitivity was similar for the three WB products.

Prevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi, Bartonella spp., Babesia microti, and Anaplasma phagocytophila in Ixodes scapularis ticks collected in Northern New Jersey.

PCR analysis of Ixodes scapularis ticks collected in New Jersey identified infections with Borrelia burgdorferi (33.6%), Babesia microti (8.4%), Anaplasma phagocytophila (1.