Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41126282›Full record

ArticleAnnals of clinical microbiology and antimicrobials2025

Diagnostic importance of Treponema pallidum Tp0971 in the serological assessment of treatment efficacy for syphilis.

Xiaohong Zhang, Jiangchen Yao, Han Jiang, Zhaoping Liu, Shaobin Huang, Shun Xiong, Xuan Ding, Man Xu, Feijun Zhao, Yimou Wu

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Annals of clinical microbiology and antimicrobials, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Xiaohong Zhang *MOE Key Lab of Rare Pediatric Diseases & Institute of Pathogenic Biology and Key Laboratory of Special Pathogen Prevention and Control of Hunan Province, Hengyang Medical College, University of South China, Hengyang, 421001, China.
Jiangchen Yao *MOE Key Lab of Rare Pediatric Diseases & Institute of Pathogenic Biology and Key Laboratory of Special Pathogen Prevention and Control of Hunan Province, Hengyang Medical College, University of South China, Hengyang, 421001, China.
Han JiangMOE Key Lab of Rare Pediatric Diseases & Institute of Pathogenic Biology and Key Laboratory of Special Pathogen Prevention and Control of Hunan Province, Hengyang Medical College, University of South China, Hengyang, 421001, China.
Zhaoping LiuMOE Key Lab of Rare Pediatric Diseases & Institute of Pathogenic Biology and Key Laboratory of Special Pathogen Prevention and Control of Hunan Province, Hengyang Medical College, University of South China, Hengyang, 421001, China.
Shaobin HuangMOE Key Lab of Rare Pediatric Diseases & Institute of Pathogenic Biology and Key Laboratory of Special Pathogen Prevention and Control of Hunan Province, Hengyang Medical College, University of South China, Hengyang, 421001, China.
Shun XiongMOE Key Lab of Rare Pediatric Diseases & Institute of Pathogenic Biology and Key Laboratory of Special Pathogen Prevention and Control of Hunan Province, Hengyang Medical College, University of South China, Hengyang, 421001, China.
Xuan DingMOE Key Lab of Rare Pediatric Diseases & Institute of Pathogenic Biology and Key Laboratory of Special Pathogen Prevention and Control of Hunan Province, Hengyang Medical College, University of South China, Hengyang, 421001, China.
Man XuMOE Key Lab of Rare Pediatric Diseases & Institute of Pathogenic Biology and Key Laboratory of Special Pathogen Prevention and Control of Hunan Province, Hengyang Medical College, University of South China, Hengyang, 421001, China.
Feijun ZhaoMOE Key Lab of Rare Pediatric Diseases & Institute of Pathogenic Biology and Key Laboratory of Special Pathogen Prevention and Control of Hunan Province, Hengyang Medical College, University of South China, Hengyang, 421001, China. nhdxzhfj@163.com.
Yimou WuMOE Key Lab of Rare Pediatric Diseases & Institute of Pathogenic Biology and Key Laboratory of Special Pathogen Prevention and Control of Hunan Province, Hengyang Medical College, University of South China, Hengyang, 421001, China. yimouwu@sina.com.

Funding

Hunan Province Health High-Level Talents Major Scientific Research Project No. R2023004Hunan Province Natural Science Foundation no. 2023JJ30530
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Over the last twenty years, there has been a global resurgence of infections caused by Treponema pallidum subsp. pallidum (T. pallidum), the bacterium responsible for syphilis. Presently, the T. pallidum IgG chemiluminescence immunoassay (CLIA) and T. pallidum particle agglutination (TPPA) are commonly employed for the investigation of potential syphilis cases through treponemal serological testing. The nontreponemal rapid plasma reagin (RPR) flocculation test is used to assess disease activity and test for cure or reinfection. Despite numerous limitations, RPR remains the best available serological standard for assessing the treatment effectiveness of patients at present. However, this method does not fully meet the requirements for treatment efficacy evaluation in syphilis patients because of the persistence of serofast reactions or spontaneous nontreponemal antibody titre decline. Therefore, a new and effective diagnostic specific marker that can also be used for monitoring treatment efficacy is urgently needed. We investigated the dynamic changes in Tp0971-specific antibodies in New Zealand rabbits via indirect ELISA and evaluated the diagnostic utility and treatment monitoring potential of Tp0971 in syphilis patients through combined ELISA and Western blot (WB) analyses. This study aims to establish a novel biomarker candidate for dual purposes of disease diagnosis and treatment response monitoring, thereby providing clinical references for the development of efficacy evaluation markers. We observed significant temporal dynamics in Tp0971-specific antibody levels and RPR titres between penicillin-treated and untreated New Zealand White rabbits. In the penicillin-treated cohort, both parameters demonstrated early elevation followed by marked late-phase decline (e.g., 30d: A450 nm = 1.217 [IQR: 0.940-1.494], RPR 1:16 [IQR: 1:8-1:32]; 312d: A450 nm = 0.4653 [IQR: 0.154-0.776], RPR negative [IQR: negative-1:2]). In contrast, the untreated group presented paradoxical findings: while late-phase RPR titres tended to decrease, leading to negative conversion, persistent elevation of Tp0971-specific antibodies was maintained throughout the observation period (e.g., 30d: A450 nm = 1.143 [IQR: 0.274-2.013], RPR 1:8 [IQR: 1:4-1:16]; 312d: A450 nm = 0.9317 [IQR: 0.185-2.048], RPR 1:1 [IQR: negative-1:4]). In patient samples, the absorbance of Tp0971-ELISA after treatment was significantly lower than that before treatment, and this difference could be observed within 4-6 months (pretreatment: A450 nm = 2.583 [2.376-2.790]; 4-6 m: A450 nm = 1.135 [0.451-1.819], p < 0.01). Moreover, among the collected RPR-negative primary syphilis and cerebral infarction syphilis or neurosyphilis samples, the Tp0971-ELISA results reached positive rates of 100% and 75%, respectively. In conclusion, Tp0971-ELISA may be used to evaluate the treatment efficacy of syphilis, and it has relatively high diagnostic value in patients with primary syphilis and cerebral infarction syphilis or neurosyphilis.

Indexed as

Antibodies, BacterialSyphilisSyphilis SerodiagnosisTreponema pallidumAdultAnimalsAnti-Bacterial AgentsBlotting, WesternEnzyme-Linked Immunosorbent AssayFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedRabbitsTreatment OutcomeAnti-Bacterial AgentsAntibodies, BacterialClinical diagnosisSerological assessmentSyphilisTp0971Treponema pallidum

Identifiers

PMID41126282
PMCPMC12542151

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