Clinical evaluation of methods for detection of Treponema pallidum infection

Objective To investigate the application value of four methods for detecting Treponema pallidum infection. Methods Three methods were used to test the serum of 602 cases. Sixty one of these cases were diagnosed as syphilis. The three methods were enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), Treponema pallidum particle assay (TPPA) and rapid plasma regain test(RPR). 134 positive samples detected by RPR were re-examined by Fluorescence quantitative PCR(FQ-PCR) method. Results There was no obvious difference between ELISA and TPPA test results(P﹥0.05). The sensibility detected by ELISA and TPPA were 95.1% and 97.8%, while the specificity was 91.8% and 96.9%. There was significant difference between RPR and ELISA or TPPA (P﹤0.05). But those cases detected by FQ-PCR were negative. Conclusions Both ELISA and TPPA methods are good methods for determination of Treponema pallidum infection. The positive rate of FQ-PCR is low in the detection of Treponema pallidum.