Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Host responses to Borrelia burgdorferi in dogs and horses.
- Journal:
- Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
- Year:
- 1988
- Authors:
- Bosler, E M et al.
- Affiliation:
- New York State Department of Health · United States
Plain-English summary
Researchers looked at how dogs and horses respond to a bacteria called Borrelia burgdorferi, which can cause Lyme disease. They found that dogs with positive blood tests had specific antibodies that could last for months, even if the dogs didn't show any symptoms. Some dogs that seemed healthy later developed symptoms, suggesting that the bacteria can stay in the body without causing immediate illness. In horses, similar tests showed that even when the blood tests were only slightly positive, the animals were still producing antibodies against the bacteria. Overall, the study indicates that Borrelia burgdorferi can remain in both dogs and horses without causing noticeable illness right away, but it could lead to disease if not treated.
Abstract
By using paired sera the IgM and IgG host responses were analyzed in dogs with ELISA and Western blot techniques. Antibodies in clinical seropositive dogs bound to 4-25 IgM and up to 40 or more IgG antigenic determinants. Early IgM response to the 41-kDa flagellin persisted for at least 9 months and involved as many as seven other peptides. IgG response expanded later in the disease and involved more immunogens than are currently recognized in late human disease. A percentage of asymptomatic dogs that later developed clinical symptoms were seropositive. Immunoblot studies suggested that B. burgdorferi is persistent in both asymptomatic and weakly reactive animals and if untreated could lead to disease expression. Clinical seropositive, asymptomatic seronegative, and experimentally infected horses were similarly studied. In experimentally inoculated animals IgG antibodies were initially bound to flagellin and later to the 34- and 31-kDa polypeptides, even though ELISA values were considered only slightly reactive.
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Search related cases →Original publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3190094/