Diagnostic Tools for Borrelia Assessment in Humans

Abstract

Although the etiological agent of Lyme disease has been known since 1980s, diagnosis of Lyme disease is still a controversial topic because of the wide range of clinical manifestations and the limited diagnostic tools available to assess Borrelia in humans. The most used diagnostic tool for Lyme disease is currently serology, but also Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and other methods are often used to prove Borrelia infection in different patients’ specimens. The present article deals with most of the diagnostic tools used in clinical practice for Lyme disease detection in human samples. Direct and indirect specific methods for Borrelia infection detection will be discussed. The most recent peer reviewed publications as well as original results from our study and information provided by companies’ web sites have been analyzed to compile this review article.