Diagnostic Performance of the Novel BioPlex Lyme Serological Assays in European Patients with Lyme Disease

• Published in: Journal of clinical microbiology 2021-06, Vol.59 (7), p.e0320520-e0320520
• Main Authors: Baarsma, M E (Ewoud), Ursinus, Jeanine, Zaaijer, Hans L, Kuiper, Herman, Hovius, Joppe W
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Antibodies, Bacterial; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; Humans; Immunoassays; Immunoglobulin G; Immunoglobulin M; Lyme Disease - diagnosis; Netherlands; Polymers; Sensitivity and Specificity; Serologic Tests
• ISSN: 0095-1137; 1098-660X
• DOI: 10.1128/JCM.03205-20

Serodiagnosis of Lyme borreliosis (LB) comes with several drawbacks, among which is limited sensitivity in early disease. This study assesses the sensitivity and specificity of the novel BioPlex 2200 Lyme IgG and Lyme IgM assays. It also assesses potential improvements to the assays through receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. The BioPlex assays were performed on sera of 158 Dutch patients with physician-confirmed LB (both early localized and disseminated), 800 healthy blood donors from the Netherlands, and 90 cross-reactive controls. The BioPlex (Biopl) assays were compared with two commercial enzyme immunoassays (Euroimmun [Eur]/C6-ELISA) and one immunoblot (recomLine). The highest sensitivity in early LB was achieved with the BioPlex assays, which outperformed the Euroimmun and C6-ELISA (Biopl: 81/88, 92.1%; Eur: 64/88, 72.7%; C6: 72/88, 81.8%). Sensitivity of all assays was comparable in patients with disseminated LB. The BioPlex assays were outperformed in terms of specificity (all healthy blood donors, Biopl: 571/800, 71.4%; Eur: 711/800, 88.9%; C6: 727/800, 90.9%), but further analyses showed promising avenues following cutoff optimization. ROC analysis showed that 2/6 antigens of the combined BioPlex IgG and IgM assays had significantly higher areas under the curve (AUCs) than those of the other analyses. Potential modified versions of the assays based on these antigens largely outperformed the Euroimmun and C6-ELISA in EM patients (Biopl: 81/80, 92.1%) while maintaining a comparable or even higher specificity (Biopl: 714/800, 89.3%). The BioPlex 2200 Lyme IgG and Lyme IgM assays are promising tools for the serodiagnosis of early LB, with the potential to be used as a standalone test. Further research is necessary to validate the findings of this discovery cohort.