Borrelia burgdorferi and different types of morphea

Dermatologica. 1991;182(3):145-54.

Abstract

Thirty patients with different clinical manifestations of morphea (circumscribed scleroderma) were investigated for serum antibodies against Borrelia burgdorferi determined by ELISA and Western blot analysis. Forty-six percent of the patients were seropositive. Western blots confirmed the ELISA results in 10 of 25 patients (40%), showing a reactivity pattern which can be seen in the course of Lyme borreliosis. In some cases the outcome after antibiotic treatment suggests a direct correlation between the further development of skin lesions and Borrelia infection. Because of these findings we suggest some morphea types to be possibly due to a B. burgdorferi infection.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / therapeutic use
  • Blotting, Western
  • Borrelia burgdorferi Group / immunology
  • Borrelia burgdorferi Group / isolation & purification
  • Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Lyme Disease / immunology
  • Lyme Disease / microbiology
  • Lyme Disease / pathology*
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Scleroderma, Localized / immunology
  • Scleroderma, Localized / microbiology
  • Scleroderma, Localized / pathology*

Substances

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents