Report IgG antibody reactivity to Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto antigens in patients with morphea in Colombia.

Autor: Palacios, Ricardo, Torres, Antonio, Trujillo, Rodolfo
Předmět:
Zdroj: International Journal of Dermatology; Nov2003, Vol. 42 Issue 11, p882, 5p
Abstrakt: Morphea and lichen sclerosus et atrophicus (LSA) are sclerotic skin lesions of unknown etiology involving connective tissue. The hypothesis of a borrelial origin of morphea and LSA is currently controversial. Immunoglobulin G (IgG) immunoblot serologies against Borrelia burgdorferi in patients with morphea and LSA were analyzed and compared with those from healthy donors and patients with syphilis to determine the association with a probable borrelial agent in Colombia. No significant differences in the number of reactive antigenic bands were found between morphea/LSA patients and syphilis patients or healthy donors. The presence of at least one of the following bands, p28, p39, or p45, was the criterion most able to distinguish morphea/LSA, yielding a specificity of 95% and a sensitivity of 28.6%. Using this criterion as evidence of putative exposure to a causative borrelial agent, sclerotic skin lesions had an odds ratio of 7.60 (95% confidence interval, 1.47–39.23). These results could be explained by cross-reactivity; however, the partial shared reactivity of sera from patients with syphilis and morphea/LSA does not rule out the possibility that a new spirochetal agent, unrelated to B. burgdorferi or Treponemas, may be the causative agent of morphea/LSA in Colombia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Databáze: Complementary Index