title: Rapid detection of specific treponemal antibodies by counterimmunoelectrophoresis using an extract of Treponema pallidum.
abstract: Specific treponemal antibodies were detected in small amounts by counterimmunoelectrophoresis (CIE) in agar gel, using an extract of Treponema pallidum. The T. pallidum-CIE test was compared with the fluorescent treponemal antibody-absorption (FTA-ABS) test and with the Reiter protein complement fixation (RPCF) test. The results of the T. pallidum-CIE and FTA-ABS tests agreed in 96% of cases. There was no agreement between the T. pallidum-CIE and RPCF tests in 14% of cases. The three tests were compared in 56 sera--17 from cases of untreated syphilis and 39 from biologically false positive (BFP) reactors. RPCF was positive in 10 (59%) of the 17 specimens from cases of untreated syphilis; all 17 sera were FTA-ABS positive. The T. pallidum-CIE test was positive in 14 (82%) of the 17 specimens. All of the 39 BFP reactors, positive by the RPCF test, were shown to be negative by the FTA-ABS and T. pallidum-CIE tests. These results suggest that the T. pallidum-CIE test is more specific than the RPCF test and slightly less specific than the FTA-ABS test. The advantages of the T. pallidum-CIE test as a convenient method are speed of performance, simplicity and economy.
mesh_terms: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D003168:Complement Fixation Tests; D003378:Counterimmunoelectrophoresis; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D006382:Hemadsorption; D006801:Humans; D007122:Immunoelectrophoresis; D013588:Syphilis Serodiagnosis / Q000379:methods*; D014210:Treponema pallidum / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial