HUMAN CORD-BLOOD CONTAINS AN IGM ANTIBODY TO THE 41KD FLAGELLAR ANTIGEN OF BORRELIA-BURGDORFERI

Natural antibodies are the IgM products of fetal and neonatal B cells. These are germline encoded low affinity antibodies with multiple specificities to self and exogenous antigens. Lyme borreliosis is the disease resulting from infection with the spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi. The humoral response to this organism is brisk, directed at multiple proteins, and persistant. Antibody to the 41kd flagellar antigen is found early in disease, but may also be found in non-exposed individuals. These properties suggest that the anti-41kd antibody may be a natural antibody. We report here the finding of an IgM anti-41kd reactivity in 29% of cord blood samples from patients in an area non-endemic for Lyme disease. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that antibody to flagellin may be a germline encoded natural antibody, and could be important in the immunopathogenesis of Lyme arthritis and other arthritides.