title: Treponema denticola infection is not a cause of false positive Treponema pallidum serology.
abstract: It has long been assumed that parodontal disease can be a cause of false positive results in syphilis serology, but so far there are no definitive data supporting this hypothesis. In this study we tested 250 serum samples obtained from blood donors. All of them were negative when routinely screened for antibodies against Treponema pallidum. Then, all these samples were tested by immunoenzymatic (ELISA) and Western Blot (WB) assays to investigate reactivities against T. denticola. Thirteen samples showed a strong positivity when tested by both methods. When tested by WB against T. pallidum no sample met the positivity criteria. Nevertheless, bands with molecolar weights of about 30-35 KDa (endoflagellar core antigens) were recognized. All the 13 subjects serologically T. denticola positive underwent oral clinical and radiological observation: all showed a very poor parodontal status (CPSS > 103). Eleven crevicular fluid samples out of the total of 13 patients were T. denticola positive by Real Time PCR carried out using a LightCycler system. In this study we demonstrated that the presence of T. denticola in the crevicular fluid samples obtained from patients with a severe periodontal status and/or a positive serology against T. denticola is not a cause of false positive results in syphilis serology.
authors.affiliation: Section of Microbiology, DMCSS, University of Bologna, St. Orsola Hospital, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonella
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Marangoni
authors.forename: Vittorio
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Sambri
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cavrini
authors.forename: Alessia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Frabetti
authors.forename: Elisa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Storni
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Accardo
authors.forename: Dora
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Servidio
authors.forename: Federico
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Foschi
authors.forename: Lucio
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Montebugnoli
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Prati
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cevenini
mesh_terms: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood*; D015153:Blotting, Western; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D005883:Gingival Crevicular Fluid / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D010510:Periodontal Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013588:Syphilis Serodiagnosis; D048373:Treponema denticola / Q000276:immunology* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D014210:Treponema pallidum / Q000276:immunology*; D014211:Treponemal Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D004269:DNA, Bacterial