Identification of Borrelia burgdorferi diagnostic biomarkers in humans and nonhum

DESCRIPTION provided by applicant The number of Lyme disease cases in the US has been recently estimated by the CDC at cases year This is major public health concern Currently available diagnostics rely on detection of the antibody response serology to Borrelia burgdorferi the causative agent of Lyme disease However serological tests are not accurate during the early stages of Lyme disease Direct detection of B burgdorferi antigens within patient samples may be the only solution to an accurate early diagnosis This application focuses on validating the presence B burgdorferi VlsE protein in patient samples VlsE was recently determined to accumulate in a nonhuman primate model of Lyme disease In addition the project seeks to identify new diagnostic biomarkers for Lyme disease by utilizing a novel biomarker discovery platform termed In vivo Microbial Antigen Discovery or InMAD The overall goal is to identify multiple early Lyme disease biomarkers that can be targeted by a rapid and sensitive immunoassay PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE Lyme disease LD is a serious public health concern that causes disease in an estimated US citizens annually Diagnosis of early stage Lyme disease is very challenging Currently there are no effective diagnostic tests for the direct detection of Borrelia burgdorferi available The goal of this project is to identify diagnostic biomarkers of Lyme disease and develop a prototype immunoassay