Detection of Treponema pallidum in whole blood samples of patients with syphilis by the polymerase chain reaction
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1590/S1678-9946202264075Keywords:
Syphilis, polA gene, Treponema pallidum DNA, Whole bloodAbstract
Syphilis is caused by the bacterium Treponema pallidum. The diagnosis is based on clinical data and serological analysis; however, the sensitivity and specificity of such tests may vary depending on the type of test and stage of the infection. In order to overcome this premise, this study utilized the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the detection of T. pallidum DNA in whole blood samples of patients with syphilis. The blood samples from patients with or without symptoms of syphilis, but with positive results in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), were included in this study. A venereal disease research laboratory (VDRL) test was performed for all collected sera samples. For PCR, the T. pallidum DNA was extracted from the collected blood samples and a specific primer set was designed to amplify 131 nucleotides of polA (Tp0105). The specificity of the primers was evaluated with the DNA of 17 different pathogens. From a total of 314 blood samples reactive in ELISA, 58.2% (183/314) of the samples were reactive in the VDRL test. In the PCR, 54% (168/314) of the ELISA-reactive samples were positive. In both tests (VDRL and PCR) 104 samples were positive. Of 104 positive samples for both tests, 71 were at the latent stage. Based on these results, it can be concluded that PCR with the designed set of primers can be utilized as a diagnostic method for T. pallidum detection in blood samples of patients with syphilis, especially those with latent infection. In addition, it can be utilized as a supplement for serological methods to improve the diagnosis of syphilis.
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Copyright (c) 2022 Júlio Henrique Ferreira de Sá Queiroz, Maisa Estopa Correa, Tiago da Silva Ferreira, Michele Ferreira Marques, Marcelo dos Santos Barbosa, Silvana Beutinger Marchioro, Simone Simionatto
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Funding data
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Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico
Grant numbers 440245/2018-4 -
Fundação de Apoio ao Desenvolvimento do Ensino, Ciência e Tecnologia do Estado de Mato Grosso do Sul
Grant numbers 092/2015 -
Fundação de Apoio ao Desenvolvimento do Ensino, Ciência e Tecnologia do Estado de Mato Grosso do Sul
Grant numbers 041/2017 -
Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico
Grant numbers 001