Treponema pallidum subsp. pallidum, the causative agent of syphilis, is an unculturable, genetically intractable bacterium. Here we report the use of the shuttle vector pKMR4PEMCS for the expression of a previously identified T. pallidum laminin-binding adhesin, Tp0751, in the nonadherent, culturable spirochete Treponema phagedenis. Heterologous expression of Tp0751 in T. phagedenis was confirm...

The purpose of this investigation was to develop an in vitro model with which invasion of tissues by pathogenic Treponema pallidum could be studied. Double-sided culture chambers were created by mounting abdominal walls excised from mice between two halves of small dialysis cells. The integrity of tissue barriers was confirmed by dye exclusion. T. pallidum subsp. pallidum, including intrinsical...

Previous investigations have demonstrated that immunization with Treponema pallidum subsp. pallidum glycerophosphodiester phosphodiesterase significantly protects rabbits from subsequent treponeme challenge. In this report, we show that the glycerophosphodiester phosphodiesterase amino acid sequence is conserved among 12 strains from a total of five pathogenic treponemes. The invariant nature o...

INTRODUCTION Syphilis remains a major public health problem in sub-Saharan Africa, including Burkina Faso. However, few published data are available on the prevalence of syphilis in the population. This study had two main objectives: to determine the seroprevalence of syphilis in a cohort of 37,210 first time blood donors and to study socio-demographic factors associated with the risk of infect...

In recent years there has been a tendency to experiment with antigens derived from treponemata in the diagnostic tests for treponemal disease in the hope that they might prove more sensitive and more specific than the cardiolipin antigen which is now the standard preparation. These antigens have been prepared either from a virulent strain of Treponema pallidum or from the avirulent Reiter strai...

We describe a real-time PCR assay for the discrimination of azithromycin-resistant and -susceptible strains of Treponema pallidum. This assay is rapid and allows for as many as 30 clinical specimens to be analyzed simultaneously without the need for DNA sequencing.

Syphilis is a fascinating and perplexing infection, with protean clinical manifestations and both diagnostic and management ambiguities. Treponema pallidum subsp. pallidum, the agent of syphilis, is challenging to study in part because it cannot be cultured or genetically manipulated. Here, we review recent progress in the application of modern molecular techniques to understanding the biologic...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW Although the recommended treatment for syphilis is penicillin, azithromycin has been used as an alternative. We discuss azithromycin-related treatment failures and resistance in Treponema pallidum, and propose ways to meet the resulting clinical and public health challenges. RECENT FINDINGS Azithromycin treatment failures in syphilis were first noted in San Francisco in 2002...

SIR-Uptake of avirulent T. pallidum (Nichols strain) was demonstrated in an in vitro system. Motile treponemes were harvested after culture for 7 days in spirolate broth (Izzat, Knox, and Wende, 1971). Non-motile treponemes were also obtained by keeping some of these at 4°C. for 18 hours. Macrophages were obtained from the peritoneal cavity of a rabbit bywashing with 100 ml. Hanks's balanced sa...

A method for the direct cultivation of Treponema pallidum from human syphilitic lesions, by the employment of a solid medium, has been described. By means of it, three of the four strains worked with were successfully cultivated. The several pure cultures agree in morphological and cultural characters, grow only in the presence of sterile tissue under anaerobic conditions, and do not produce pu...