Comparative evaluation of 15 serological assays for the detection of syphilis infection

Cole, Michelle; Perry, Keith R.; Parry, J. V.

doi:10.1007/s10096-007-0346-9

Cited by 55 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 24 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…We found the ICE and Newmarket EIAs to perform similarly, which is not unexpected, as both these EIAs use recombinant treponemal antigens (TpN15, TpN17, and TpN47) and detect both IgG and IgM. Similar performances of ICE and Newmarket EIAs have been reported previously (7). In view of our findings of dual syphilis EIA reactivities, TPPA-negative sera need further confirmatory testing.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

Characterization of Treponema pallidum Particle Agglutination Assay-Negative Sera following Screening by Treponemal Total Antibody Enzyme Immunoassays

Maple

Ratcliffe

Smit

2010

Clin Vaccine Immunol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Following a laboratory audit, a significant number of Treponema pallidum particle agglutination assay (TPPA)-negative sera were identified when TPPA was used as a confirmatory assay of syphilis enzyme immunoassay (EIA) screening-reactive sera (SSRS). Sera giving such discrepant results were further characterized to assess their significance. A panel of 226 sera was tested by the Abbott Murex ICE Syphilis EIA and then by the Newmarket Syphilis EIA II. TPPA testing was performed on 223 sera. Further testing by the Venereal Disease Research Laboratory (VDRL) test, the Mercia Syphilis IgM EIA, the fluorescent treponemal antibody (FTA-ABS) assay, and INNO-LIA immunoblotting was undertaken in discrepant cases. One hundred eighty-seven of 223 (83.8%) SSRS were TPPA reactive, while 26 (11.6%) sera which were reactive in both the ICE and Newmarket EIAs were nonreactive by TPPA. The majority (68%) of the TPPA-discrepant sera were from HIV-positive patients and did not represent early acute cases, based on previous or follow-up samples, which were available for 22/26 samples. FTA-ABS testing was performed on 24 of these sera; 14 (58.3%) were FTA-ABS positive, and 10 (41.7%) were FTA-ABS negative. Twenty-one of these 26 sera were tested by INNO-LIA, and an additional 4 FTA-ABS-negative samples were positive. In this study, significant numbers (18/26) of SSRS-and TPPA-negative sera were shown by further FTA-ABS and LIA (line immunoblot assay) testing to be positive. The reason why certain sera are negative by TPPA but reactive by treponemal EIA and other syphilis confirmatory assays is not clear, and these initial findings should be further explored.Treponema pallidum hemagglutination assay (TPHA), introduced during the 1960s, has been shown (17, 19) to be highly sensitive and specific at detecting treponemal antibodies and is still used by many laboratories. A modification of the TPHA is the Treponema pallidum particle agglutination assay (TPPA), which has been shown (1) to perform as well as the hemagglutination assay.In recent years, a number of highly sensitive and specific enzyme immunoassays (EIAs) (7) have become available, and some of these can simultaneously detect syphilis IgG and IgM, thus shortening the seronegative window following infection. Two such assays are the Abbott Murex ICE Syphilis EIA (1) and the Newmarket Laboratories Syphilis EIA II (18). United Kingdom guidelines have proposed (9, 10) that either an EIA alone or a combination of VDRL/rapid plasma reagin (RPR) tests and TPPA/TPHA can be used for syphilis screening. Furthermore, specimens that are reactive on screening require confirmatory testing with a different treponemal test that has a sensitivity equal to that used for screening and, ideally, that has greater specificity. The fluorescent treponemal antibody (FTA-ABS) test has been used widely as a confirmatory test; however, treponemal Western blot/immunoblot assays (5), which have been shown to perform as well as the FTA-ABS test, have proved an attractive alternative because of their reported...

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

Characterization of Treponema pallidum Particle Agglutination Assay-Negative Sera following Screening by Treponemal Total Antibody Enzyme Immunoassays

Maple

Ratcliffe

Smit

2010

Clin Vaccine Immunol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The intensity of the resultant color is inversely proportional to the concentration of anti-treponemal antibodies in the sample. Enzygnost Syphilis showed sensitivities varying from 98.2% to 100% and specificities from 96.8% to 100% (Cole et al, 2007;Gutierrez et al, 2000;Maidment et al, 1998;Marangoni Antonella et al, 2009;Viriyataveekul et al, 2006). Bioelisa Syphilis (Biokit) is a competitive assay using T.pallidum whole antigen to coat the well of a plate.…”

Section: Eiamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This assay showed sensitivity of 97.4%, and specificity of 100%. However, lower detection rate was observed in samples from patients with untreated primary syphilis (Cole et al, 2007). ICE Syphilis (Murex) is a two step recombinant sandwich EIA using three T. pallidum recombinant antigen (TpN15, TpN17 and TpN47) coated onto the wells of microtiter plate strips; the wells are also coated with anti-human immunoglobulin G (IgG) and M (IgM).…”

Section: Eiamentioning

confidence: 99%

Laboratorial Diagnosis of Syphilis

Sato¹

2011

Syphilis - Recognition, Description and Diagnosis

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…Serological tests for syphilis (STS) 14,[25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37] STS provide a presumptive diagnosis of syphilis. None of the STS differentiate between venereal syphilis and the non-venereal treponematoses (yaws: T. pallidum subsp pertenue; bejel -endemic syphilis: T. pallidum subsp endemicum and pinta: T. carateum).…”

Section: 14mentioning

confidence: 99%

The ‘2014 European guideline on the management of syphilis’ has now been published

Unemo

Janier

2014

Eurosurveillance

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Comparative evaluation of 15 serological assays for the detection of syphilis infection

Cited by 55 publications

References 24 publications

Characterization of Treponema pallidum Particle Agglutination Assay-Negative Sera following Screening by Treponemal Total Antibody Enzyme Immunoassays

Characterization of Treponema pallidum Particle Agglutination Assay-Negative Sera following Screening by Treponemal Total Antibody Enzyme Immunoassays

Laboratorial Diagnosis of Syphilis

The ‘2014 European guideline on the management of syphilis’ has now been published

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About