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. 2012:2012:294587.
doi: 10.1155/2012/294587. Epub 2011 Dec 5.

Adaptive and innate immune responsiveness to Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato in exposed asymptomatic children and children with previous clinical Lyme borreliosis

Barbro H Skogman  1 , Sandra Hellberg, Christina Ekerfelt, Maria C Jenmalm, Pia Forsberg, Johnny Ludvigsson, Sven Bergström, Jan Ernerudh
Affiliations

Adaptive and innate immune responsiveness to Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato in exposed asymptomatic children and children with previous clinical Lyme borreliosis

Barbro H Skogman et al. Clin Dev Immunol. 2012.

Abstract

Why some individuals develop clinical manifestations in Lyme borreliosis (LB) while others remain asymptomatic is largely unknown. Therefore, we wanted to investigate adaptive and innate immune responsiveness to Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato in exposed Borrelia-antibody-positive asymptomatic children (n = 20), children with previous clinical LB (n = 24), and controls (n = 20). Blood samples were analyzed for Borrelia-specific interferon (IFN)-γ, interleukin (IL)-4, and IL-17 secretion by ELISPOT and Borrelia-induced IL-1β, IL-6, IL-10, IL-12(p70), and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) secretion by Luminex. We found no significant differences in cytokine secretion between groups, but a tendency towards an increased spontaneous secretion of IL-6 was found among children with previous clinical LB. In conclusion, the adaptive or innate immune responsiveness to Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato was similar in Borrelia-exposed asymptomatic children and children with previous clinical LB. Thus, the immunological mechanisms of importance for eradicating the spirochete effectively without developing clinical manifestations of LB remain unknown.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The number of Borrelia-specific IFN-γ-secreting cells (open circle), IL-4-secreting cells (open square) and IL-17-secreting cells (open triangle), per 100 000 PBMCs as measured by ELISPOT in different groups. The filled circles, squares, and triangles represent children in the previous clinical LB group with Borrelia seropositivity. The Borrelia-specific secretions are net values obtained after subtracting the number of spontaneous cytokine-secreting cells from the number of outer surface protein fraction (OF-) antigen-specific cytokine-secreting cells. The median values are noted as lines in the figure. No statistically significant differences were found between groups.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The number of spontaneously IFN-γ-secreting cells (open circle), IL-4-secreting cells (open square), and IL-17-secreting cells (open triangle) per 100 000 PBMCs as measured by ELISPOT in different groups. The filled circles, squares, and triangles represent the children in the previous clinical LB group with Borrelia seropositivity. The median values are noted as lines in the figure. No statistically significant differences were found between groups.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The Borrelia-induced secretion of IL-1β, IL-6, IL-10, and TNF in PBMC supernatants from Borrelia exposed asymptomatic children (filled circle), children with previous clinical LB (open square), and controls (filled triangle) as measured by Luminex. The Borrelia induced secretions are net values obtained after subtracting the level of spontaneous cytokine secretion from the level of outer surface protein-fraction (OF-) stimulated cytokine secretion. The median values are noted as lines in the figure. No statistically significant differences were found between groups.
Figure 4
Figure 4
The spontaneous secretion of IL-1β, IL-6, IL-10, and TNF in PBMC supernatants from Borrelia exposed asymptomatic children (filled circle), children with previous clinical LB (open square), and controls (filled triangle) as measured by Luminex. The median values are noted as lines in the figure. There was a tendency to higher IL-6 in children with previous clinical LB compared to Borrelia exposed asymptomatic children, otherwise no statistically significant differences were found between groups.
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