Accepted_test

Rapid and portable testing system for Borrelia burgdorferi DNA identification
by Yephimenko Ekaterina | Spalvis Artyom | Andrei Makashov | SBEI SS No.225 | Gymnasium No. 406 | Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University
Abstract ID: 656
Event: BGRS-abstracts
Sections: [Sym 9] Section “Molecular Pathology, Diagnostics, and Therapeutics”

Currently the health facilities of the Russian Federation lack convenient and quick-to-use test systems for various pathogens. In particular, the PCR, for all its positive properties, requires expensive equipment and qualified specialists. Other diagnostic methods frequently are not accurate enough to determine the infection or demand special storage conditions. Test systems based on loop isothermal amplification (LAMP) are significantly easier to use and cheaper. Such systems allow the identification of the pathogen when it is impossible to quickly deliver the pathogen to a specialized laboratory. In this paper we developed a test system capable of detecting DNA of Borrelia.

Lyme disease is caused by bacteria of Borrelia genus and transmitted by ticks. In Russia, the disease is widespread. Lyme disease is detected in approximately 1.2% of patients injured by a tick bite. The prognosis with timely initiation of treatment is favorable, but the disease can cause joint damage, such as chronic arthritis. There are currently no effective vaccines against Lyme disease.

We analyzed 530 Borrelia burgdorferi full genome sequences isolated from different regions of the Russian Federation and identified several highly conserved regions in order to satisfy the rules of selection specific primers for LAMP method.