{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,12]],"date-time":"2026-09-12T06:29:28Z","timestamp":1789194568803,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":96,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,5]],"date-time":"2025-04-05T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1743811200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Government of Canada"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Pathogens"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Lyme disease (LD), caused by infection with the tick-borne bacteria, Borrelia burgdorferi, is associated with a wide array of symptoms in human patients. Variations in clinical manifestations are thought to be influenced by genetic differences among B. burgdorferi strains. In this study, we evaluated the infectivity, tissue bacterial load, pathology, and immunogenicity of five strains of B. burgdorferi sensu stricto (297 Ah130, Bb16-54, B31-A3, Bb16-126, JD1) in female C3H\/HeN mice at three infectious doses (104, 105, 106 spirochetes). We found that strains Bb16-126 and JD1 were the most infectious, resulting in 100% infection across all the tested doses. Strain Bb16-126 caused the highest bacterial burden in the heart tissue and significant carditis, whereas JD1 exhibited the lowest spirochete load in the heart and minimal carditis. In comparison, strain B31-A3 demonstrated the highest abundance in the tibiotarsal joint. Infection with all the strains induced severe lymph node hyperplasia, with JD1 producing the greatest increase in cellularity. Using a diagnostic C6 peptide ELISA, all the strains induced significant anti-C6 IgM and IgG antibody titers at 14 days post-infection; however, strain B31-A3 elicited the highest anti-C6 IgM titers. Our findings demonstrate the importance of strain diversity in shaping B. burgdorferi pathogenesis in a mouse model and provide insights for developing strain-specific diagnostic, therapeutic, and vaccine strategies.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/pathogens14040352","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,7]],"date-time":"2025-04-07T11:24:39Z","timestamp":1744025079000},"page":"352","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["Borrelia burgdorferi Strain-Specific Differences in Mouse Infectivity and Pathology"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8150-8129","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Annabelle","family":"Pfeifle","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Oncology, Radiopharmaceuticals and Research, Biologic and Radiopharmaceutical Drugs Directorate, Health Products and Food Branch, Health Canada and World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Standardization and Evaluation of Biologicals, Ottawa, ON K1A 0K9, Canada"},{"name":"Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1H 8M5, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rose","family":"Anderson-Duvall","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Oncology, Radiopharmaceuticals and Research, Biologic and Radiopharmaceutical Drugs Directorate, Health Products and Food Branch, Health Canada and World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Standardization and Evaluation of Biologicals, Ottawa, ON K1A 0K9, Canada"},{"name":"Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1H 8M5, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2851-7311","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Levi A.","family":"Tamming","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Oncology, Radiopharmaceuticals and Research, Biologic and Radiopharmaceutical Drugs Directorate, Health Products and Food Branch, Health Canada and World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Standardization and Evaluation of Biologicals, Ottawa, ON K1A 0K9, Canada"},{"name":"Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1H 8M5, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Wanyue","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Oncology, Radiopharmaceuticals and Research, Biologic and Radiopharmaceutical Drugs Directorate, Health Products and Food Branch, Health Canada and World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Standardization and Evaluation of Biologicals, Ottawa, ON K1A 0K9, Canada"},{"name":"Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1H 8M5, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sathya N.","family":"Thulasi Raman","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Oncology, Radiopharmaceuticals and Research, Biologic and Radiopharmaceutical Drugs Directorate, Health Products and Food Branch, Health Canada and World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Standardization and Evaluation of Biologicals, Ottawa, ON K1A 0K9, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Caroline","family":"Gravel","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Oncology, Radiopharmaceuticals and Research, Biologic and Radiopharmaceutical Drugs Directorate, Health Products and Food Branch, Health Canada and World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Standardization and Evaluation of Biologicals, Ottawa, ON K1A 0K9, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jianguo","family":"Wu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Oncology, Radiopharmaceuticals and Research, Biologic and Radiopharmaceutical Drugs Directorate, Health Products and Food Branch, Health Canada and World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Standardization and Evaluation of Biologicals, Ottawa, ON K1A 0K9, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Heather","family":"Coatsworth","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, Winnipeg, MB R3E 3M4, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9384-0436","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Maarten J.","family":"Voordouw","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Veterinary Microbiology, Western College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5B4, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xu","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Oncology, Radiopharmaceuticals and Research, Biologic and Radiopharmaceutical Drugs Directorate, Health Products and Food Branch, Health Canada and World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Standardization and Evaluation of Biologicals, Ottawa, ON K1A 0K9, Canada"},{"name":"School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1H 8M5, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4931-7485","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Michael J. W.","family":"Johnston","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Oncology, Radiopharmaceuticals and Research, Biologic and Radiopharmaceutical Drugs Directorate, Health Products and Food Branch, Health Canada and World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Standardization and Evaluation of Biologicals, Ottawa, ON K1A 0K9, Canada"},{"name":"Department of Chemistry, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0958-7728","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Wangxue","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Human Health Therapeutics Research Center, National Research Council of Canada, Ottawa, ON K1N 1J1, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Simon","family":"Sauve","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Oncology, Radiopharmaceuticals and Research, Biologic and Radiopharmaceutical Drugs Directorate, Health Products and Food Branch, Health Canada and World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Standardization and Evaluation of Biologicals, Ottawa, ON K1A 0K9, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4161-9905","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lisheng","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1H 8M5, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xuguang","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Oncology, Radiopharmaceuticals and Research, Biologic and Radiopharmaceutical Drugs Directorate, Health Products and Food Branch, Health Canada and World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Standardization and Evaluation of Biologicals, Ottawa, ON K1A 0K9, Canada"},{"name":"Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1H 8M5, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,5]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"616","DOI":"10.3201\/eid2702.202731","article-title":"Estimating the Frequency of Lyme Disease Diagnoses, United States, 2010-2018","volume":"27","author":"Kugeler","year":"2021","journal-title":"Emerg. 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