ELISA-Based Measurement of Antibody Responses and PCR-Based Detection Profiles Can Distinguish between Active Infection and Early Clearance of Borrelia burgdorferi
Figure 3
DNA from killed Bb is rapidly cleared from infection sites and is undetectable by PCR. Groups of mice were injected intradermally with 104 of either live or heat-killed Bb. Mice were sacrificed at the indicated times after injection, and a 6 mm skin sample encompassing the injection site was excised for DNA preparation. The relative Bb levels were assessed by real-time PCR using recA primers and normalized relative to the murine nid content. Each circle represents Bb recA levels relative to 1000 nid copies for an individual animal, and the number beside the bar indicates the average value for that group. These data reflect the combined results of two separate experiments.
