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Comparison of the Euroimmun Borrelia ‘antibody index’ with Virotech immunoblot-based detection of intrathecal Borrelia antibody production for the diagnosis of Lyme neuroborreliosis

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Abstract

For diagnosis of neuroborreliosis, calculation of the antibody index, based on Euroimmun Anti-Borrelia plus VlsE ELISA was compared to Virotech Borrelia Europe plus TpN17 immunoblot-based detection of Borrelia-specific intrathecal antibody production. CXCL13 results in cerebrospinal fluid were used to evaluate discordant results. A total of 64 serum/CSF pairs were analysed. Patients were classified according to European Federation of Neurological Societies criteria incorporating Virotech results. For the Euroimmun assay, a sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 94% was found. Agreement between the both tests was almost perfect (κ 0.81). Both methods are appropriate for the detection of Borrelia-specific intrathecal antibody production.

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Data availability

Due to the retrospective nature of this research, participants of this study did not agree for their data to be shared publicly, so supporting data is not available.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Clinical Department of Laboratory Medicine and National Reference Center for Borrelia Burgdorferi, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

    Erika De Bont, Katrien Lagrou & Melissa Depypere

  2. Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation, Laboratory of Clinical Bacteriology and Mycology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

    Katrien Lagrou & Melissa Depypere

Authors
  1. Erika De Bont
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  2. Katrien Lagrou
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  3. Melissa Depypere
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Correspondence to Erika De Bont.

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The study protocol was conducted following good clinical practice guidelines. The study (study number S62243) was approved by the Ethics Committee of the University Hospitals Leuven, Belgium.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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De Bont, E., Lagrou, K. & Depypere, M. Comparison of the Euroimmun Borrelia ‘antibody index’ with Virotech immunoblot-based detection of intrathecal Borrelia antibody production for the diagnosis of Lyme neuroborreliosis. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 41, 155–161 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-021-04343-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-021-04343-x

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