Određivanje prisutnosti bakterije Treponema pallidum u bolesnika s primarnim stadijem ranog sifilisa i u kasnom latentnom sifilisu Determining the presence of T. pallidum in patients with primary-stage of early syphilis and late latent syphilis.

摘要

A total of 90 subjects, 60 patients with syphilis and 30 healthy controls (volunteer blood donors), were analyzed by using indirect and direct diagnostic laboratory methods for diagnosis of syphilis. The two groups of subjects were comparable for sex distribution and of expected age for the analyzed stages of the disease. The patients with primary stage of early syphilis were of younger age, whereas patients with late latent syphilis were older. Serologic findings mostly corresponded to the stage of the disease, although polymerase chain reaction (PCR), as a direct method for T. pallidum detection, proved useful in patients with negative serologic results. Positive PCR result in patients with primary stage of syphilis and negative results of Venereal Disease Research Laboratory (VDRL) test and Treponema Pallidum Hemagglutination Assay (TPHA) was significant, allowing timely treatment. Positive PCR result obtained in a healthy subject was especially significant and alarming, as volunteer blood donors are serologically tested on a regular basis. DNA was successfully extracted from the blood and tissues of infected rabbits. Amplification of gene DNA polymerase I T. pallidum PCR proved to be more succesful than amplification of gene for 47-kDa antigen of T. pallidum. PCR did not prove to be a sufficiently specific method to establish the diagnosis of syphilis, except in some cases of primary stage early syphilis, and as a complement control in a group of volunteer blood donors.