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1. Antigens And Antibody To
Treponema pallidum
Presented By: Rajkishor Yadav
BSc.MLT 3rd Year
JFIHS/LA

2. Antigens:
 T. pallidum is antigenically complex. Infection by the bacteria
induces production of at least three types of antibodies against;
(a) Cardiolipin antigen,
(b) group-specific antigens
(c) species-specific antigens of T. pallidum.
 Cardiolipin Antigen:
 The Cardiolipin antigen is a hapten and is chemically a diphosphatidyl
glycerol.
 Cardiolipin antigens, used in serological tests for syphilis, are mixtures of
sodium cardiolipin with purified lecithin and usually also with cholesterol.

3.  The usual source of cardiolipin is beef-heart muscle
 This hapten elicits the production of an antibody, known as reagin
antibody, in blood of patient suffering from syphilis.
 This Cardiolipin antigen is demonstrated in T. pallidum, but it is not known
whether the reagin antibody is produced by cardiolipin that is present in
the Treponema or by the cardiolipin that is released from damaged tissues
following infection by Treponema.
 Demonstration of the reaginic antibodies in the serum against the
cardiolipin antigen forms the basis of standard nonspecific tests for
syphilis (e.g., VDRL, Kahn, and Wasserman)

4. Group specific Antigens:
 T. pallidum group-specific antigen is protein in nature.
 It is found in T. pallidum as well as in nonpathogenic cultivable
treponemes, such as Reiter’s treponeme.
 This antigen induces the production of antibodies in the serum, which are
found in patients with syphilis. Reiter’s protein complex complement
fixation test, a test used in syphilis serology, employs this antigen for
detection of serum antibodies in patients with syphilis

5. Species specific Antigen To T. pallidum:
 Species-specific treponemal antigen is probably polysaccharide in
nature.
 This antigen induces the development of antibodies, which
can be detected in serum of the patients suffering from syphilis.
 The specific treponemal test, such as T. pallidum hemagglutination
(TPHA) test, detects antibodies by using these antigens.

6.  Additional note:
 T pallidum subspecies pallidum has hyaluronidase that breaks down the
hyaluronic acid in the ground substance of tissue and presumably
enhances the invasiveness of the organism.
 The protein profiles of T.pallidum (all the subspecies) are
indistinguishable; more than 100 protein antigens have been noted.
 The endoflagella are composed of three core proteins that are
homologous to other bacterial flagellin proteins, plus an unrelated sheath
protein.