ABSTRACT
The variety of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (B. burgdorferi) genospecies leads to distinction in clinical manifestations of Lyme borreliosis (LB). There are reports of LB clinical characteristics in China, where the B. burgdorferi genospecies in ticks and animal hosts are different from those in Europe and North America. During May to September in 2010 and 2011, all patients who had erythema migrans (EM, more than 5 cm in diameter) after a recent tick-bite, and sought medical care at Mudanjiang Forestry Central Hospital, Heilongjiang Province of northeastern China, were enrolled in the study. Specific PCR was used to determine the B. burgdorferi genospecies in the disseminated patients. Of 265 EM patients, B. burgdorferi DNA was detected in blood specimens from 15 of 55 disseminated patients. Sequence analyses of 5S-23S rRNA, flagellin, ospC, 16S rRNA and ospA genes revealed that 11 patients were infected with Borrelia garinii, three with Borrelia afzelii and one with Borrelia valaisiana-related genospecies. Among 15 patients, 40%, 13.3% and 13.3% manifested pruritus, pain and ulceration, respectively. Systemic symptoms, arthralgia or a swollen joint and lymphadenopathy were observed in 26.7%, 13.3% and 6.7% patients, respectively. In northeastern China, three genospecies of LB patients were detected. The B. burgdorferi genospecies identified in this study was predominantly B. garinii. A case infected with B. valaisiana-related genospecies was reported for the first time.
Subject(s)
Borrelia burgdorferi Group/classification , Borrelia burgdorferi Group/genetics , Genetic Variation , Lyme Disease/microbiology , Adolescent , Adult , Animals , Bacterial Proteins/genetics , Borrelia burgdorferi Group/isolation & purification , Child , Child, Preschool , China/epidemiology , Cluster Analysis , DNA, Bacterial/chemistry , DNA, Bacterial/genetics , DNA, Ribosomal/chemistry , DNA, Ribosomal/genetics , Female , Humans , Lyme Disease/epidemiology , Lyme Disease/pathology , Male , Middle Aged , Molecular Sequence Data , Phylogeny , RNA, Ribosomal, 16S/chemistry , RNA, Ribosomal, 16S/genetics , RNA, Ribosomal, 23S/chemistry , RNA, Ribosomal, 23S/genetics , RNA, Ribosomal, 5S/chemistry , RNA, Ribosomal, 5S/genetics , Sequence Analysis, DNA , Young AdultABSTRACT
In this work, the average perturbed angular correlation integral attenuation factor G2 of the transferrin in the serums from the normals and the patients with liver cancer were determined using time integral perturbed angular correlation method (PAC). The average values of G2 were 0.1945 +/- 0.0155 for the cancer serum transferrin and 0.2865 +/- 0.0411 for the normal serum transferrin. The difference between these two groups is significant. Mathematical deduction and theoretical analysis suggested that the equivalent radius of the transferrin molecules in the serum of cancer patients becomes smaller than normal, because of a change in the molecular conformation. Similar results were also observed in experiments with rat serum transferrin.