Concentration of sFas and sFasL in the supernatant of PBMC culture from the patients with late lyme borreliosis
Grygorczuk, S.; Chmielewski, T.; Zajkowska, J.; Pancewicz, Sławomir.; Swierzbińska, R.; Kondrusik, M.; Tylewska-Wierzbanowska, Sława.; Hermanowska-Szpakowicz, T.
Przeglad Epidemiologiczny 61(1): 51-58
2007
ISSN/ISBN: 0033-2100 PMID: 17702439 Document Number: 609811
Persistent, inadequate inflammatory response present in late Lyme borreliosis may be driven by activated T lymphocytes. We estimated synthesis of extracellular proteins, i.e., soluble Fas receptor (sFas) and its ligand (sFasL), which might protect T lymphocytes from physiological apoptosis, in the peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) culture of patients with late borreliosis. The Lyme borreliosis group (LB) consisted of 20 patients with Lyme borreliosis present for >6 months. Six patients without any active infection constituted the control group (K). PBMC were incubated for 7 days with phytohaemagglutinin or with a suspension of Borrelia afzelii (Ba), B. garinii (Bg) and B. burgdorferi sensu stricto (Bss) spirochaetes. sFas and sFasL concentrations were measured in the culture supernatant using ELISA. In LB, mean sFasL concentration was increased significantly under stimulation of phytohaemagglutinin, Ba and Bg, and, with borderline significance, with Bss, as compared to unstimulated culture. sFas also increased with phytohaemagglutinin and Bg. No changes in sFas and sFasL levels were observed in the K group after antigenic stimulation. These results suggest that the increased synthesis of anti-apoptosis factors in patients with late borreliosis may account for the persistent inflammatory response seen in these patients.