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The rapid plasma reagin test (RPR test or RPR titer) is a type of rapid diagnostic test that looks for non-specific antibodies in the blood of the patient that may indicate an infection by syphilis or related non-venereal treponematoses. It is one of several nontreponemal tests for syphilis (along with the Wassermann test and the VDRL test).
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).
There are a number of treponemal-specific tests such as the fluorescent treponemal antibody-absorption test, T. pallidum hemagglutination assays , and the microhemagglutination assay . [citation needed] The MHA-TP is used to confirm a syphilis infection after another method tests positive for the syphilis bacteria.
Additionally these tests may show false-negative when the patient's antibody titer is very high due to a hook effect (also called a prozone effect). Because of the issues with false positives, confirmation with a second treponemal test that is specific for T. pallidum antibodies is recommended. [5] [6]
The CSF is tested for antibodies for specific Treponema pallidum antigens. The preferred test is the VDRL test, which is sometimes supplemented by fluorescent treponemal antibody absorption test (FTA-ABS). [1] [2] [3] Historically, the disease was studied under the Tuskegee study, often cited as an example of unethical human experimentation.
Treponema pallidum pallidum is a motile spirochete that is generally acquired by close sexual contact, entering the host via breaches in squamous or columnar epithelium. The organism can also be transmitted to a fetus by transplacental passage during the later stages of pregnancy, giving rise to congenital syphilis. [ 53 ]
Bejel, or endemic syphilis, is a chronic skin and tissue disease caused by infection by the endemicum subspecies of the spirochete Treponema pallidum.Bejel is one of the "endemic treponematoses" (endemic infections caused by spiral-shaped bacteria called treponemes), a group that also includes yaws and pinta.