Evaluation of Sera from Patients with Lyme Disease in the Fluorescent Treponemal Antibody-absorption Test for Syphilis

To determine whether the cross-reactivity between Treponema pallidum and Borrelia burgdorferi affects the specificity of the fluorescent treponemal antibody-absorption (FTA-Abs) test for syphilis, sera from patients with Lyme disease or syphilis were examined in a quantitative FTA-Abs test. Sera wer...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sexually transmitted diseases 1986-10, Vol.13 (4), p.232-236
Main Authors: HUNTER, ELIZABETH F., RUSSELL, HAROLD, FARSHY, CAROL E., SAMPSON, JACQUELYN S., LARSEN, SANDRA A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Antigens, Bacterial - immunology
Bacterial diseases
Biological and medical sciences
Borrelia - immunology
Cross Reactions
Fluorescent Antibody Technique - standards
Human bacterial diseases
Humans
Infectious diseases
Lyme Disease - blood
Medical sciences
Miscellaneous
Syphilis - diagnosis
Treponema pallidum - immunology
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Summary:To determine whether the cross-reactivity between Treponema pallidum and Borrelia burgdorferi affects the specificity of the fluorescent treponemal antibody-absorption (FTA-Abs) test for syphilis, sera from patients with Lyme disease or syphilis were examined in a quantitative FTA-Abs test. Sera were diluted serially in phosphate-buffered saline, then in sortent, and were tested with T. pallidum and B. burgdorferi antigens. Nine of 40 sera from patients with known Lyme disease were reactive at the 1:5 dilution with antigen from T. pallidum; only one serum was reactive at the 1:10 dilution. When both antigens were tested, the titer against B. burgdorferi was always higher than that against T. pallidum. Similarly, sera from patients with syphilis showed cross-reactivity with B. burgdorferi. Although reactivity could be absorbed with Treponemal phagedenis (Reiter strain), simultaneous titration with both antigens was easily performed and designated the etiologic agent.
ISSN:0148-5717
1537-4521
DOI:10.1097/00007435-198610000-00005