Department of Dermatology and Venereology, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100053, China.
Chin Med J (Engl). 2013 Jan;126(2):206-10.
Tp15, Tp17, Tp45, and Tp47 are outer-membrane proteins found in Treponema pallidum, the etiologic agent of syphilis. These proteins are potent antigens and are potential markers for the serological detection of syphilis. The present study analyzed antibodies to these protein antigens (TP-IgM and TP-IgG) in human serum and investigated the expression of these antibodies during different stages of syphilis.
Serum samples were collected from 69 subjects (male 45, female 24) diagnosed with syphilis and analyzed by Western blotting for the expression of IgM and IgG against the four protein antigens. Expression levels of the target antibodies were compared during the same stage of syphilis as well as between different stages of this disease.
In subjects with primary syphilis, the positive rate of Tp45 IgM was higher than that of other TP-IgM. Tp15 IgM was detected only in subjects with tertiary syphilis. Similarly, the seroprevalence of Tp45 IgG in primary syphilis was higher than for other TP-IgG. No target TP-IgM was detected in subjects with latent syphilis. In subjects with secondary syphilis, the expression level of Tp15 IgG (138.73 ± 20.16) was higher than for other target TP-IgG. In subjects with tertiary syphilis, all target TP-IgG were detected. In subjects with tertiary or latent syphilis, the expression levels of Tp45 IgG (121.33 ± 11.04 and 110.10 ± 40.19, respectively) were higher than those of other target TP-IgG. The expression levels of all Tp-IgM were similar before or after anti-syphilis treatment. In comparison, the expression levels of all TP-IgG decreased compared with the pre-treatment levels, and this decrease was statistically significant (both P < 0.05) for Tp17 IgG and Tp47 IgG.
After Treponema pallidum infection, Tp45 IgM appeared first and Tp15 IgM occurred during later stages. The positive rates of all TP-IgG increased with the duration of this disease. Anti-syphilis treatment reduced the expression levels of Tp17 IgG and Tp47 IgG. Larger-scale studies are required to further validate the value of Tp15, Tp17, Tp45, and Tp47 as markers for the early detection of primary and latent syphilis.
Tp15、Tp17、Tp45 和 Tp47 是梅毒螺旋体的外膜蛋白，梅毒螺旋体是梅毒的病原体。这些蛋白是强有力的抗原，是梅毒血清学检测的潜在标志物。本研究分析了人类血清中这些蛋白抗原（Tp-IgM 和 Tp-IgG）的抗体，并研究了这些抗体在梅毒不同阶段的表达。
收集 69 例（男性 45 例，女性 24 例）梅毒患者的血清样本，通过 Western blot 分析针对四种蛋白抗原的 IgM 和 IgG 的表达。比较同一阶段梅毒患者和不同阶段梅毒患者之间的靶抗体表达水平。
在原发性梅毒患者中，Tp45 IgM 的阳性率高于其他 Tp-IgM。Tp15 IgM 仅在三期梅毒患者中检出。同样，Tp45 IgG 在原发性梅毒中的血清阳性率也高于其他 Tp-IgG。潜伏梅毒患者未检出靶 Tp-IgM。在二期梅毒患者中，Tp15 IgG 的表达水平（138.73±20.16）高于其他靶 Tp-IgG。在三期梅毒患者中，均检出所有靶 Tp-IgG。在三期或潜伏梅毒患者中，Tp45 IgG 的表达水平（分别为 121.33±11.04 和 110.10±40.19）均高于其他靶 Tp-IgG。梅毒治疗前后所有 Tp-IgM 的表达水平相似。相比之下，所有 TP-IgG 的表达水平均较治疗前降低，Tp17 IgG 和 Tp47 IgG 的降低有统计学意义（均 P<0.05）。
梅毒螺旋体感染后，Tp45 IgM 首先出现，Tp15 IgM 出现在后期。所有 TP-IgG 的阳性率随疾病持续时间的延长而增加。梅毒治疗降低了 Tp17 IgG 和 Tp47 IgG 的表达水平。需要更大规模的研究来进一步验证 Tp15、Tp17、Tp45 和 Tp47 作为原发性和潜伏性梅毒早期检测标志物的价值。
