Metabolic Profiling of Borrelia in Ticks and in Whole Blood Samples by Headspace Gas Chromatography - A Case Report

The technique of static headspace gas chromatography (HS-GC) was applied to monitor the emission of hydrogen and carbon dioxide from bacterial cultures to detect bacterial contamination in ticks and the transfer to humans, causing Lyme borreliosis. While the standard serological methods to recognize Lyme-disease rely upon the indirect determination of antibodies, the present method enables the direct proof of bacteria both in ticks and in the blood of infected patients, due to the specific hydrogen emission. Moreover, the progress of an applied therapy can be monitored while antibodies, once created, remain in the blood regardless of whether the applied therapy was successfully finished or not. This method was also used to compare the efficacy of chemical and natural antibiotics. The most efficient natural antibiotics found were oil of cloves and garlic extract preparations. It was found that the duration of a successful therapy with chemical and natural antibiotics varied but can be perfectly monitored by the gas chromatographic technique.