Advancing serodiagnosis of tick-borne borreliosis

Title : Advancing serodiagnosis of tick-borne borreliosis

Abstract:

Species of spirochete bacteria of the genus Borrelia termed Lyme disease Borreliae (LDB) cause Lyme disease (LD) and others of the relapsing fever Borreliae (RFB) group cause tick-borne relapsing fever (TBRF). Clinical diagnosis of LD relies heavily on serodiagnosis, notably a cumbersome two-tier test procedure. We recently described immunoblot tests (IBs) with recombinant proteins from LDB and RFB for the serodiagnosis and differentiation of LD and TBRF, which showed many suspected LD patients to have TBRF in different continents. We also developed a US FDA-approved one-step IB test for LD. Both findings significantly advance the serodiagnosis of LD and TBRF.

Biography:

Ranjan Ramasamy obtained a BA and PhD from the University of Cambridge, UK. He has held academic appointments in the UK and abroad including Australia, Sri Lanka and the USA. He was the Chairman of the National Science Foundation of Sri Lanka, and held Professorial appointments in Biochemistry, Immunology and Life Sciences. He was a member of the Board of Governors of the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), and a member of Committee for Scientific Planning and Review (CSPR) of the International Council for Science (ICSU) for several years. He has 300 publications pertaining to Biochemistry, Immunology and Infectious Diseases.