Abstract
Aim. Our aim was to study the bactericidal effect of human serum on Borrelia miyamotoi in vitro. Materials and methods. B. miyamotoi spirochetes (strains HT31 and LB-2001) were incubated in non-immune serum of healthy donors (SHD) and in heat inactivated complement-depleted SHD, as well as in serum samples of the patients recovered from ITBB-BM. The viability, that is motility, of borrelia after incubation was investigated by dark-field microscopy. The levels ofserum antibody to B.miyamofoi-specificproteins (GlpQ enzyme and four variable major proteins Vlpl5/16, Vlpl8, Vspl, and Vlp5) were measured by specially designed plane protein microarray. Results. Borrelia fully retain their viability in non-immune SHD, but their motility is partially or completely suppressed by the addition of serum from ITBB-BM convalescents or rabbit antibodies to Д. miyamotoi. The immobilizing effect of the immune serum is substantially inhibited by its heat-inactivation, which indicates that immobilizing effect is mediated by the complement system. Conclusion. Antibody-dependent complement-mediated bactericidal action ofhuman blood serum is probably not the only and 100% effective mechanism for human defense against B. miyamotoi infection, but requires support from cellular immunity.
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