Title : Recent advances in theserodiagnosis of tick-borne borreliosis

Abstract:

Spirochete bacteria of the genus Borrelia termed Lyme disease Borreliae (LDB) cause Lyme disease (LD) while other related Borrelia species termed relapsing fever Borreliae (RFB) cause tick-borne relapsing fever (TBRF). LD is widely prevalent in the USA. Because symptoms are mainly non-specific, the clinical diagnosis of LD relies mainly on serodiagnosis that until recently relied on a cumbersome two-tier test procedure. We recently described immunoblot tests (IBs) with recombinant proteins from LDB and RFB for the serodiagnosis and differentiation of LD and TBRF, which that showed many suspected LD patients to have TBRF in different continents. We have also developed a US FDA-approved one-step IB test for IgM and IgG antibodies in LD. Both findings significantly advance the serodiagnosis of LD and TBRF.

Biography:

Ranjan Ramasamy graduated in 1971 and then a PhD in 1974 from the University of Cambridge, UK. He was the Chairman of the National Science Foundation of Sri Lanka, Professor of Life Sciences at the Institute of Fundamental Studies in Kandy in Sri Lanka, Professor of Biochemistry in the University of Jaffna in Jaffna Sri Lanka, Professor of Immunology in the University Brunei Darussalam Medical School and held institute appointments at the Babraham Institute, Cambridge, UK and Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation, La Jolla, USA. He has more than 280 publications.