Identification of potential biomarkers in active Lyme borreliosis.

Objectives: Lyme serology does not readily discriminate an active Lyme borreliosis (LB) from a previous Borrelia infection or exposure. Here, we aimed to investigate a large number of immunological protein biomarkers to search for an immunological pattern typical for active LB, in contrast to patterns found in healthy blood donors, a proportion of whom were previously exposed to Borrelia.

Methods: Serum samples from well-characterised adult patients with ongoing LB and healthy blood donors were included and investigated using a proximity extension assay (provided by Olink®) by which 92 different immune response-related human protein biomarkers were analysed simultaneously.