SARCOIDOSIS & LYME DISEASE

1: Zhonghua Nei Ke Za Zhi. 1992 Oct;30(10):631-3, 659. Related Articles, Links
[Borrelia burgdorferi may be the causal agent of sarcoidosis]


[Article in Chinese]
Hua B, Li QD, Wang FM.
Naval General Hospital of PLA, Beijing.


Serum antibody to Borrelia burgdorferi was measured in 33 patients with sarcoidosis who were confirmed clinically and pathologically. The results showed that 81.8% of the patients were positive. In addition, a strain of Borrelia burgdorferi was isolated from a patient's blood. Fourteen patients received ceftriaxone 2 g per day and/or penicillin 12 million per day and a patient received lincomycin 1.2 g per day. The antibody titer of the patients turned to normal level, their SACE turned to normal range, and chest X-ray findings were markedly improved in 3 cases after the treatment. According to the facts mentioned above, we consider that Borrelia burgdorferi may be the causal agent of sarcoidosis and sarcoidosis might be a special type of Lyme disease.


PMID: 1582344 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]