I'm wondering about the significance of having only Band 41 show up as "present". My Western Blot was processed at a lab in Utah (I believe). I have an appointment with an LLMD coming up later this month.
Posted by SForsgren (Member # 7686) on :
41 is non-specific and in the absence of all other bands, I would question whether or not Lyme is the issue though Lyme is a clinical diagnosis and a CD57 test might be a good next step if you think that is your issue.
Posted by jasonsmith (Member # 10914) on :
Do you guys have a list of other bacteria that would also generate a positive 41K band?
This is the most common band. I only had a 41K band on my Western Blot. Both IgM and IgG.
Posted by treepatrol (Member # 4117) on :
Molecular characterization of the humoral response to the 41-kilodalton flagellar antigen of Borrelia burgdorferi, the Lyme disease agent.
Berland R, Fikrig E, Rahn D, Hardin J, Flavell RA.
Section of Immunobiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06510.
The earliest humoral response in patients infected with Borrelia burgdorferi, the agent of Lyme disease, is directed against the spirochete's 41-kDa flagellar antigen. In order to map the epitopes recognized on this antigen, 11 overlapping fragments spanning the flagellin gene were cloned by polymerase chain reaction and inserted into an Escherichia coli expression vector which directed their expression as fusion proteins containing glutathione S-transferase at the N terminus and a flagellin fragment at the C terminus. Affinity-purified fusion proteins were assayed for reactivity on Western blots (immunoblots) with sera from patients with late-stage Lyme disease. The same immunodominant domain was bound by sera from 17 of 18 patients. This domain (comprising amino acids 197 to 241) does not share significant homology with other bacterial flagellins and therefore may be useful in serological testing for Lyme disease.
Publication Types: Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.
PMID: 1894359 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] 41band
With one visible tick bite in an endemic lyme area, two clear bulls-eye rashes, every Lyme symptom and a good response to abx treatment, the 41 band is still the only one that has ever shown up on my blood tests!
So, I have given up for now on blood tests giving me an accurate diagnosis of lyme. Your llmd should treat you based on her/his clinical diagnosis, considering all the evidence.
Be well!
Posted by mikej2323 (Member # 8913) on :
If someone tests positive for a 41-band, in my opiion, it shouldn't be ignored. "Something" is clearly there. I believe in Europe, all a patient needs is one band, regardless of the kDa weight.
Band 41 was my only positive band. Many others will say the samething. Lyme is a clinical diagnosis.
Posted by Soleilpie (Member # 8481) on :
I believe band 41 does not specifically represent Borrelia burgdorferi but all of the borrelia families. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
Posted by David95928 (Member # 3521) on :
41 was all I had but the risk factors, clinical course and clinical response to treatmennt have confirmed that is what we are dealing with.
Posted by timaca (Member # 6911) on :
Band description
NovaTec standard blots are produced with a strain of B.garinii. A similar blot produced with B. burgdorferi ss would be quite similar but would show an OspB band, a protein not expressed by B. garinii. B. afzelii blots are different and show more bands of low molecular weight (below 20 kDa).
The following table describes most proteins that can be revealed by a patient serum on a IgG blot. For diagnostic purposes, only 5 of them have to be identified by the user.
MW Description 93 kDa p100: chromosomal protein highly specific of the Borrelia genus; the antibody response is mostly IgG and appears in the course of chronic infections; bands at 93 kDa are strongly associated with advanced stages. 73 kDa Specific marker, probably corresponding to the bacterial DNA. 62-72 kDa Heat shock proteins; these bands are not specifically associated with a Borrelia infection and are found in several bacterial infections. No diagnostic value. 66 kDa Species-dependant but specific marker for Borrelia infections. 60 kDa Common bacterial antigen; non-specific. No diagnostic value. 58 kDa Species-dependant but specific marker for Borrelia infections. 46 kDa Species-dependant but specific marker for Borrelia infections. 41 kDa Flagellin: this protein is not specific to the Borrelia genus but is useful in the test interpretation; cross-reaction with other spirochetes are common; a flagellin positive reaction may occur at early as well at late stages. 39 kDa p39 is a protein highly specific of the Borrelia genus. 37 kDa This protein is considered to be an early marker but its specificity has not been established. 32.5 kDa OspA: surface protein highly specific of Borrelia garinii. 28 kDa OspD: surface protein. 22-23 kDa OspC: surface protein highly specific of Borrelia garinii and a marker for early infections. 18 kDa p18: the specificity of this protein has been recently established; excellent marker for late infections.
Posted by Mo (Member # 2863) on :
i had a similar situation to Vermont Lymie - em rash (diagnostic of Bb), clinical diagnosis of persistant symptoms, pos. babesia dna, pos. bart henselae, pos. mycoplasma, response to abx for Lyme, ect..
and all the while had only band 41. this made sence to me. my antibodies against Lyme were NOT kicking in, therefore when i had only the 41, i was actually the most symptomatic from the disease.
later in treatment, i had more specific bands showing, and became more "positive". it would have been interesting to keep testing for them as treatment went along to see how it all relates.
mo
Posted by psano (Member # 7785) on :
You didn't say, but did you have any indeterminate bands? If you did, those would be significant too.
Posted by Vanilla (Member # 11155) on :
timaca
Thank you for the band post. I have never seen the band explainations before.
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