Occurrence of severe destructive lyme arthritis in hamsters vaccinated with outer surface protein A and challenged with Borrelia burgdorferi. Quantitative detection of Borrelia burgdorferi with a microtiter-based competitive polymerase chain reaction assay. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Aventis Pasteur operated under the Pasteur Merieux Connaught name until the creation of Aventis. Occurrence of severe destructive lyme arthritis in hamsters vaccinated with outer surface protein A and challenged with Borrelia burgdorferi.
Arthritis is a frequent and major complication of infection with Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto.
The antigens responsible for the induction of arthritis are unknown. When the canine rOspA vaccine was combined with aluminum hydroxide, all vaccinated hamsters developed arthritis after challenge with B. burgdorferi sensu stricto. Histopathologic examination confirmed the development of severe destructive arthritis in rOspA-vaccinated hamsters challenged with B. burgdorferi sensu stricto. These findings suggest that rOspA vaccines should be modified to eliminate epitopes of OspA responsible for the induction of arthritis. Our results are important because an rOspA vaccine in aluminum hydroxide was approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use in humans.