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The Venereal Disease Research Laboratory test (VDRL) is a blood test for syphilis and related non-venereal treponematoses that was developed by the eponymous US laboratory. The VDRL test is used to screen for syphilis (it has high sensitivity ), whereas other, more specific tests are used to diagnose the disease.
Fig. 1: Microwells showing positive and negative TPHA test. The Treponema pallidum particle agglutination assay (also called TPPA test) is an indirect agglutination assay used for detection and titration of antibodies against the causative agent of syphilis, Treponema pallidum subspecies pallidum. It also detects other treponematoses. [citation ...
The fluorescent treponemal antibody absorption (FTA-ABS) test is a diagnostic test for syphilis.Using antibodies specific for the Treponema pallidum species, such tests would be assumed to be more specific than non-treponemal testing such as VDRL but have been shown repeatedly to be sensitive but not specific for the diagnosis of neurosyphilis in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF).
It is one of several nontreponemal tests for syphilis (along with the Wassermann test and the VDRL test). The term reagin means that this test does not look for antibodies against the bacterium itself, Treponema pallidum, but rather for antibodies against substances released by cells when they are damaged by T. pallidum (cardiolipin and lecithin).
Syphilis (/ ˈ s ɪ f ə l ɪ s /) is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium Treponema pallidum subspecies pallidum. [1] The signs and symptoms depend on the stage it presents: primary, secondary, latent or tertiary.
This reaction is the foundation of “nontreponemal” assays such as the VDRL (Venereal Disease Research Laboratory) test and Rapid Plasma Reagin (RPR) test. Both these test are flocculation type tests that use an antigen-antibody interaction. The complexes remain suspended in solution and therefore visible due to the lipid based antigens.
Treponema pallidum, formerly known as Spirochaeta pallida, is a microaerophilic, gram-negative, spirochaete bacterium with subspecies that cause the diseases syphilis, bejel (also known as endemic syphilis), and yaws. [1] It is known to be transmitted only among humans and baboons. [2]
Replacement tests such as the VDRL test and the RPR test, initially based on flocculation techniques (Hinton), have been shown to produce far fewer false positive results. [ citation needed ] Indeed, the "biologic false positives" of modern tests usually indicate a serious alternate condition, often an autoimmune disease .