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Borrelia infections do not only show humoral immune responses by antibodies, but can activate T-lymphocytes at the same time. Once Borrelia burgdorferi is not active anymore, the T-cellular immune response should vanish.
It is not possible to control the treatment success by Borrelia antibodies because the “titer” of antibodies can persist in the blood over years. Recent Borrelia burgdorferi infections (e.g. 'bull’s-eye rash' or 'summer flu') develop antibodies after weeks and sometimes even do not show them at all.
The Borrelia EliSpot can eliminate some problems:
Scientific Paper concerning the Detection of IFN-γ Secretion by T Cells collected before and after successful treatment of Early Lyme Disease.
Positive reactions in the EliSpot demonstrate current active infections against:
Dr. Leo Joosten, Department of Medicine , Radboud University, Netherlands:
Q: What solutions that are currently being pursued do you believe hold the most promise for diagnosing Lyme disease at a high confidence level? Which tests currently available to the general public, other than the western blot test, do you believe provide a better degree of certainty?
A: “At the moment, there are cellular based tests on the market. LTT and EliSpot are a few of these tests. These tests give us information about the cellular immune response towards Borrelia antigens. It seems that these tests will be used in the future, apart from serological tests.”
Borrelia EliSpot (T-Cell-Spot / IGRA: Interferon-Gamma-Release Assay)
Borrelia EliSpot antigens:
Reflecting the current T-cellular activity of Lyme disease:
EliSpot: New T-Cell Test a “Game Changer” for Lyme disease:
… The sensitivity of EliSpot is estimated at 84%, and the specificity is 94%...
… EliSpot assays provide robust, highly reproducible data…
… EliSpot can be retested for the acquisition of additional information in follow-up assays…
… the two assays systems (EliSpot + CD57-cell count) compliment each other in the quest to understand T cell-mediated immunity in vivo….
Lehman PV et al.: Unique Strengths of EliSpot for T Cell Diagnostics in: Kalyuzhny AE. Handbook of EliSpot: Methods and Protocols, Methods in Molecular Biology, Vol. 792. 2nd Ed: Springer; 2012: 3-23