Faculty Collaboration Database

Detection of Borrelia burgdorferi DNA by polymerase chain reaction in synovial fluid from patients with Lyme arthritis. N Engl J Med 1994 Jan 27;330(4):229-34

Date

01/27/1994

Pubmed ID

8272083

DOI

10.1056/NEJM199401273300401

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-0028057617 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   503 Citations

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Borrelia burgdorferi is difficult to detect in synovial fluid, which limits our understanding of the pathogenesis of Lyme arthritis, particularly when arthritis persists despite antibiotic therapy.

METHODS: Using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), we attempted to detect B. burgdorferi DNA in joint-fluid samples obtained over a 17-year period. The samples were tested in two separate laboratories with four sets of primers and probes, three of which target plasmid DNA that encodes outer-surface protein A (OspA).

RESULTS: B. burgdorferi DNA was detected in 75 of 88 patients with Lyme arthritis (85 percent) and in none of 64 control patients. Each of the three OspA primer-probe sets was sensitive, and the results were moderately concordant in the two laboratories (kappa = 0.54 to 0.73). Of 73 patients with Lyme arthritis that was untreated or treated with only short courses of oral antibiotics, 70 (96 percent) had positive PCR results. In contrast, of 19 patients who received either parenteral antibiotics or long courses of oral antibiotics (> or = 1 month), only 7 (37 percent) had positive tests (P < 0.001). None of these seven patients had received more than two months of oral antibiotic treatment or more than three weeks of intravenous antibiotic treatment. Of 10 patients with chronic arthritis (continuous joint inflammation for one year or more) despite multiple courses of antibiotics, 7 had consistently negative tests in samples obtained three months to two years after treatment.

CONCLUSIONS: PCR testing can detect B. burgdorferi DNA in synovial fluid. This test may be able to show whether Lyme arthritis that persists after antibiotic treatment is due to persistence of the spirochete.

Author List

Nocton JJ, Dressler F, Rutledge BJ, Rys PN, Persing DH, Steere AC

Author

James J. Nocton MD Professor in the Pediatrics department at Medical College of Wisconsin

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Arthritis, Infectious
Base Sequence
Borrelia burgdorferi Group
Child
Child, Preschool
DNA Primers
DNA Probes
DNA, Bacterial
Female
Humans
Lyme Disease
Male
Middle Aged
Molecular Sequence Data
Polymerase Chain Reaction
Synovial Fluid