California US1: Zhonghua Nei Ke Za Zhi. 1992 Oct;30(10):631-3, 659. Related Articles, Links
[Borrelia burgdorferi may be the causal agent of sarcoidosis]
[Article in Chinese]
Hua B, Li QD, Wang FM.
Naval General Hospital of PLA, Beijing.
Serum antibody to Borrelia burgdorferi was measured in 33 patients with sarcoidosis who were confirmed clinically and pathologically. The results showed that 81.8% of the patients were positive. In addition, a strain of Borrelia burgdorferi was isolated from a patient's blood. Fourteen patients received ceftriaxone 2 g per day and/or penicillin 12 million per day and a patient received lincomycin 1.2 g per day. The antibody titer of the patients turned to normal level, their SACE turned to normal range, and chest X-ray findings were markedly improved in 3 cases after the treatment. According to the facts mentioned above, we consider that Borrelia burgdorferi may be the causal agent of sarcoidosis and sarcoidosis might be a special type of Lyme disease.
PMID: 1582344 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
1: Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol. 1998 Apr;236(4):280-4. Related Articles, Links
Seroprevalence of anti-Borrelia antibodies among patients with confirmed sarcoidosis in a region of Japan where Lyme borreliosis is endemic.
Ishihara M, Ohno S, Ono H, Isogai E, Kimura K, Isogai H, Aoki K, Ishida T, Suzuki K, Kotake S, Hiraga Y.
Department of Ophthalmology, Yokohama City University School of Medicine, Japan.
BACKGROUND: Sarcoidosis is a multisystemic granulomatous disease of unknown etiology, while Lyme borreliosis is a multisystemic disorder caused by Borrelia burgdorferi. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the relationship between sarcoidosis and Lyme borreliosis in a region of Japan where Lyme borreliosis is endemic. METHODS: We determined the seroprevalence of anti-Borrelia burgdorferi antibodies as well as antibodies three Japanese Borrelia strains by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and dotblot assay using purified Borrelia-specific proteins in 46 patients with confirmed sarcoidosis and 150 controls (50 disease controls and 100 healthy controls) in Hokkaido, the affected region. RESULTS: Fifteen patients with sarcoidosis (32.6%) tested positive for Borrelia spirochete in both assays, compared with two disease controls (4.0%) and two healthy controls (2.0%). The seroprevalence of anti-Borrelia antibodies in patients with sarcoidosis was much higher in the affected region than in the region in our previous study were Lyme borreliosis is non-endemic. CONCLUSION: In a region where Lyme borreliosis is endemic, Borrelia infection may be partially associated with sarcoidosis.
PMID: 9561361 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
www.emedicine.com/DERM/topic381.htm
Proposed antigens fall into 3 categories that include infectious, environmental, and autoantigens. The most common infectious agents implicated are Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Mycoplasma species, Corynebacteria species, spirochetes, atypical mycobacteria, Propionibacterium acnes, Borrelia burgdorferi, herpes simplex virus, Epstein-Barr virus, cytomegalovirus, coxsackievirus, rubella virus, Histoplasma species, Cryptococcus species, coccidioidomycosis, and sporotrichosis. Environmental antigens implicated include metals (eg, zirconium, aluminum, beryllium), organic dusts (eg, pine, pollen), and inorganic dusts (eg, clay, soil, talc). Heat shock protein has also been implicated.
