Studies to improve the ability of culture medium to recover Borrelia miyamotoi
Abstract
The relapsing fever spirochete Borrelia miyamotoi was recently detected in hard-bodied
Ixodes scapularis ticks that also transmit Lyme disease-causing B. burgdorferi. As a
result, methods of laboratory diagnosis that rely on detecting specific antibody responses
are likely confounded as the spirochetes share similar proteins. Efforts to better
understand this possibility have been hampered due to the absence of a medium capable
of recovering B. miyamotoi from a human who contracted the illness in the United States.
In this study, MKP-F culture medium typically used to cultivate a laboratory-acclimated
B. miyamotoi isolate was significantly improved by eliminating gelatin and adding 10%
human serum (MKP-H). However, the increased efficacy was not sufficient to recover
the spirochetes from a patient who contracted the spirochetes. In a preliminary
experiment, it was also confirmed that patients infected with B. miyamotoi produce
antibodies that react commonly with multiple B. burgdorferi proteins, including the C6
peptide thought to be highly specific for Lyme disease spirochetes, which highlights the
necessity of continued effort to improve the efficacy of laboratory culture medium
sufficient to recover B. miyamotoi spirochetes from local patients.
Subject
Microbiology
Borrelia Miyamotoi