Al-Samarrai H T, Henderson W G
Br J Vener Dis. 1976 Oct;52(5):300-8. doi: 10.1136/sti.52.5.300.
Support for the concept of the development of immunity during the course of syphilis is avaiable in the literature. In experimental syphilis in rabbits, some immunity is present approximately 3 weeks after infection with Treponema pallidum. Resistance to re-infection increases to a maximum at approximately 3 months after infection. Termination of this state by penicillin treatment within this 3-month period may enable re-infection to be accomplished. Attempts to reproduce this state of immunity experimentally by injection of T. pallidum itself, or protein derivatives, or ultrasonic disintegrates obtained from T. pallidum or non-pathogenic treponemes, have been unsuccessful. However, promising results in rabbits have resulted from injecting T. pallidum suspensions attenuated by storage at 4 degrees C, penicillin, or gamma irradiation, and also by suspensions preserved by glutaraldehyde. In the present study, partial resistance to intratesticular challenge in rabbits with T. pallidum has been obtained by immunization with a variety of non-pathogenic treponemes, as exemplified by the strains Nichols, Kazan 2, 4, 5, and 8, Treponema minutum, Treponema ambigua, Treponema refringens and Treponema microdentium. Success is attributed to the processing of immunizing antigens at 4 degrees C and storage until use at -20 degrees C. Attempts to attenuate T. pallidum by immunological means, namely, passage through a limited number of immunized rabbits, were unsuccessful.
文献中可找到关于梅毒病程中免疫发展概念的支持依据。在兔实验性梅毒中，感染梅毒螺旋体后约3周会出现一定程度的免疫。对再感染的抵抗力在感染后约3个月达到最大值。在这3个月期间内用青霉素治疗终止这种状态可能会使再感染得以发生。通过注射梅毒螺旋体本身、蛋白质衍生物、从梅毒螺旋体或非致病性密螺旋体获得的超声裂解物来实验性再现这种免疫状态的尝试均未成功。然而，给兔子注射经4℃储存减毒的梅毒螺旋体悬液、青霉素或γ射线照射处理的悬液以及经戊二醛保存的悬液已取得了有前景的结果。在本研究中，用多种非致病性密螺旋体（如Nichols株、Kazan 2、4、5和8株、微小密螺旋体、歧义密螺旋体、屈折密螺旋体和微小齿密螺旋体）免疫兔子，已使其对睾丸内接种梅毒螺旋体产生了部分抵抗力。成功归因于在4℃处理免疫抗原并在-20℃储存直至使用。通过免疫手段（即让梅毒螺旋体通过有限数量的免疫兔子传代）来减毒梅毒螺旋体的尝试未成功。
