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Science 3 June 1977:
Vol. 196. no. 4294, pp. 1121 - 1122
DOI: 10.1126/science.870973
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Articles

Science, Vol 196, Issue 4294, 1121-1122
Copyright © 1977 by American Association for the Advancement of Science

articles

Erythema chronicum migrans and Lyme arthritis: cryoimmunoglobulins and clinical activity of skin and joints

AC Steere, JA Hardin, and SE Malawista

We report the presence of serum cryoimmunoglobulins in patients with attacks of a newly described epidemic arthritis--Lyme arthritis--and in some patients with a characteristic skin lesion--erythema chronicum migrans--that sometimes precedes the onset of the arthritis. Seven patients who had cryoimmunoglobulins at the time of the skin lesion have developed arthritis; four patients without them have not. The cryoglobulins in patients with the skin lesion consisted primarily of immunoglobulin M (IgM); those in patients with arthritis often included both IgM and IgG. These findings support the hypothesis that a common origin exists for the skin and joint lesions and suggest that circulating immune complexes may have a pathogenetic role in Lyme arthritis.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Dermatologic Problems in the Intensive Care Unit: Part III.
R. S. Berman and D. L. Silvestri (1986)
J Intensive Care Med 1, 156-170
   Abstract »    PDF »
Neurologic Abnormalities of Lyme Disease: Successful Treatment with High-Dose Intravenous Penicillin.
A. C. STEERE, P. ANDREW R., and S. E. MALAWISTA (1983)
Ann Intern Med 99, 767-772
   Abstract »    PDF »
The Early Clinical Manifestations of Lyme Disease.
A. C. STEERE, N. H. BARTENHAGEN, J. E. CRAFT, G. J. HUTCHINSON, J. H. NEWMAN, D. W. RAHN, L. H. SIGAL, P. N. SPIELER, K. S. STENN, and S. E. MALAWISTA (1983)
Ann Intern Med 99, 76-82
   Abstract »    PDF »
Antibiotic Therapy in Lyme Disease.
A. C. STEERE, S. E. MALAWISTA, J. H. NEWMAN, P. N. SPIELER, and N. H. BARTENHAGEN (1980)
Ann Intern Med 93, 1-8
   Abstract »    PDF »
Lyme Carditis: Cardiac Abnormalities of Lyme Disease.
A. C. STEERE, W. P. BATSFORD, M. WEINBERG, J. ALEXANDER, H. J. BERGER, S. WOLFSON, and S. E. MALAWISTA (1980)
Ann Intern Med 93, 8-16
   Abstract »    PDF »
Erythema Chronicum Migrans With Purpura and Polymorphonuclear Infiltrates.
G. P. Gross, P. H. Cooper, and C. Nolan (1979)
Arch Dermatol 115, 873-874
   Abstract »    PDF »
Chronic Lyme Arthritis: Clinical and Immunogenetic Differentiation from Rheumatoid Arthritis.
A. C. STEERE, A. GIBOFSKY, M. E. PATARROYO, R. J. WINCHESTER, J. A. HARDIN, and S. E. MALAWISTA (1979)
Ann Intern Med 90, 896-901
   Abstract »    PDF »


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