Performance of the 47-kilodalton membrane protein versus DNA polymerase I genes for detection of Treponema pallidum by PCR in ulcers

Angèle Gayet-Ageron; Frédéric Laurent; Jacques Schrenzel; Béatrice Charton; Gisela Jimenez-Getaz; Manuela Tangomo; Tristan Ferry; Patrice Sednaoui; Stephan Lautenschlager; Laurence Toutous-Trellu; Begoña Martinez de Tejada; Matthias Cavassini; Stéphane Emonet; Thomas Perneger; Hélène Salord

doi:10.1128/JCM.03444-14

Performance of the 47-kilodalton membrane protein versus DNA polymerase I genes for detection of Treponema pallidum by PCR in ulcers

J Clin Microbiol. 2015 Mar;53(3):976-80. doi: 10.1128/JCM.03444-14. Epub 2014 Dec 17.

Authors

Angèle Gayet-Ageron¹, Frédéric Laurent², Jacques Schrenzel³, Béatrice Charton², Gisela Jimenez-Getaz⁴, Manuela Tangomo⁵, Tristan Ferry⁶, Patrice Sednaoui⁷, Stephan Lautenschlager⁸, Laurence Toutous-Trellu⁹, Begoña Martinez de Tejada¹⁰, Matthias Cavassini¹¹, Stéphane Emonet⁴, Thomas Perneger¹², Hélène Salord²

Affiliations

¹ Division of Clinical Epidemiology, University of Geneva Hospitals and Faculty of Medicine, Geneva, Switzerland [email protected].
² Laboratory of Bacteriology, Hôpital de la Croix-Rousse, Hospices Civils de Lyon, Lyon, France.
³ Bacteriology Laboratory and Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Geneva Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland Genomic Research Laboratory, University of Geneva Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland.
⁴ Bacteriology Laboratory and Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Geneva Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland.
⁵ Genomic Research Laboratory, University of Geneva Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland.
⁶ Service de Maladies Infectieuses et Tropicales, Hôpital de la Croix-Rousse, Hospices Civils de Lyon, Lyon, France.
⁷ Institut Alfred Fournier, Laboratoire CNR Gonocoques, Paris, France.
⁸ Triemlispital, Dermatologisches Ambulatorium Triemli, Zürich, Switzerland.
⁹ Department of Dermatology and Venereology, University of Geneva Hospitals and Faculty of Medicine, Geneva, Switzerland.
¹⁰ Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Geneva Hospitals and Faculty of Medicine, Geneva, Switzerland.
¹¹ Service de Maladies Infectieuses, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, Lausanne, Switzerland.
¹² Division of Clinical Epidemiology, University of Geneva Hospitals and Faculty of Medicine, Geneva, Switzerland.

Abstract

Treponema pallidum PCR (Tp-PCR) is a direct diagnostic method for primary and secondary syphilis, but there is no recommendation regarding the best choice of target gene. In this study, we sequentially tested 272 specimens from patients with sexually transmitted ulcers using Tp-PCR targeting the tpp47 and then polA genes. The two methods showed similar accuracies and an almost-perfect agreement.

Publication types

Comparative Study
Evaluation Study
Multicenter Study
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Carrier Proteins / analysis*
Carrier Proteins / genetics
DNA Polymerase I / analysis*
DNA Polymerase I / genetics
Female
Humans
Lipoproteins / analysis*
Lipoproteins / genetics
Male
Middle Aged
Molecular Diagnostic Techniques / methods*
Polymerase Chain Reaction / methods*
Prospective Studies
Syphilis / diagnosis*
Syphilis / microbiology
Treponema pallidum / genetics
Treponema pallidum / isolation & purification*
Ulcer / microbiology*

Substances

47-kDa immunogen, Treponema pallidum
Carrier Proteins
Lipoproteins
DNA Polymerase I