CXCL13 levels in cerebrospinal fluids of patients with multiple sclerosis: The role of Borrelia proteins in neuro infections

In the present study, the purpose was to study anti-Borrelia antibodies with both ELISA and WB for the control of Lyme Disease in CSF samples obtained from patients diagnosed with MS, and to determine the relationship between them by investigating the CXCL13 levels. A total of 43 CSF samples taken from patients diagnosed with MS and PTS. The obtained data were statistically analyzed with the Spearman Rank Correlation Test and p<0.05 value was considered statistically significant. Especially 5 antigens (p19, p20, p21, p58, and OspC) were found to be positive as a result of the confirmation of the samples that were positive for Borrelia antibodies with the WB method. When the results of the study were evaluated, the Borrelia antibodies that were found positive by ELISA and high CXCL13 in CSF samples of MS patients proved once again that CXCL13 is still the best biomarker for LNB. The presence of Borrelia antibodies, which were found to be positive with the ELISA test in CSF samples of MS patients, was confirmed with WB. The coexistence of high CXCL13 levels in the same samples suggests that LNB may also play a role in the etiopathogenesis of MS and CXCL13 may be a potential biomarker in this respect. Also, with the positive detection of OspC and p58 WB bands in the majority of cases, we think that these two protein bands will shed light on borrelia studies in CSF in neurodegenerative diseases and can be used as a potential biomarker in diagnosis.