BIOL 3052 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Antigen, Cardiolipin, Immunoglobulin M
27 Jan 2017
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Rapid plasma reagin (rpr) test for the diagnosis of syphilis introduction. Rapid plasma reagin (rpr) is macroscopic, non treponemal, flocculation card test used to screen for syphilis caused by treponema pallidum. Rpr is simple test can be done within few minutes. This test is less sensitive than treponemal test in early syphilis infection. Two types of antibodies are produced in syphilis i. e. autoantibody (cardiolipin) response and treponemal antibody response. Autoantibodies are produced in 2-3 weeks of treponemal infection due to tissue damage. These auto antibodies are often referred to as cardiolipin antibodies because they can be detected in serological test using cardiolipin antigen. This test does(cid:374)"t look fo(cid:396) a(cid:374)ti(cid:271)odies agai(cid:374)st a(cid:272)tual (cid:271)a(cid:272)te(cid:396)iu(cid:373) (cid:271)ut rather for antibodies against substances released by cells they are damaged by treponema pallidum. The anti-lipodial antibodies are antibodies that are not produce only in syphilis infection but also in other non treponemal disease of an acute and chronic nature in which tissues are damaged.
