Seroprevalence of anti-Borrelia antibodies among patients with confirmed sarcoidosis in a region of Japan where Lyme borreliosis is endemic

• Published in: Graefe's archive for clinical and experimental ophthalmology 1998-04, Vol.236 (4), p.280-284
• Main Authors: ISHIHARA, M, OHNO, S, HIRAGA, Y, ONO, H, ISOGAI, E, KIMURA, K, ISOGAI, H, AOKI, K, ISHIDA, T, SUZUKI, K, KOTAKE, S
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Antibodies, Bacterial - analysis; Biological and medical sciences; Borrelia burgdorferi Group - immunology; Borrelia burgdorferi Group - isolation & purification; Endemic Diseases; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; Eye Infections, Bacterial - complications; Eye Infections, Bacterial - diagnosis; Eye Infections, Bacterial - immunology; Female; Humans; Japan - epidemiology; Lyme Disease - complications; Lyme Disease - diagnosis; Lyme Disease - epidemiology; Male; Medical sciences; Ophthalmology; Prevalence; Sarcoidosis - complications; Sarcoidosis - diagnosis; Sarcoidosis - immunology; Sarcoidosis. Granulomatous diseases of unproved etiology. Connective tissue diseases. Elastic tissue diseases. Vasculitis
• ISSN: 0721-832X; 1435-702X
• DOI: 10.1007/s004170050078

Sarcoidosis is a multisystemic granulomatous disease of unknown etiology, while Lyme borreliosis is a multisystemic disorder caused by Borrelia burgdorferi. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the relationship between sarcoidosis and Lyme borreliosis in a region of Japan where Lyme borreliosis is endemic. We determined the seroprevalence of anti-Borrelia burgdorferi antibodies as well as antibodies three Japanese Borrelia strains by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and dotblot assay using purified Borrelia-specific proteins in 46 patients with confirmed sarcoidosis and 150 controls (50 disease controls and 100 healthy controls) in Hokkaido, the affected region. Fifteen patients with sarcoidosis (32.6%) tested positive for Borrelia spirochete in both assays, compared with two disease controls (4.0%) and two healthy controls (2.0%). The seroprevalence of anti-Borrelia antibodies in patients with sarcoidosis was much higher in the affected region than in the region in our previous study were Lyme borreliosis is non-endemic. In a region where Lyme borreliosis is endemic, Borrelia infection may be partially associated with sarcoidosis.