The application of cytokine expression assays to differentiate active from previously treated syphilis

Kojima N.; Siebert J.C.; Maecker H.; Rosenberg-Hasson Y.; Leon S.R.; Vargas S.K.; Konda K.A.; Caceres C.F.; Klausner J.D. · Journal of Infectious Diseases (2020) · DOI: 10.1093/infdis/jiaa127

Resumen

To investigate the role of serum cytokine assays to distinguish between active from treated syphilis among serofast patients, we recruited individuals into a prospective cohort study. Participants underwent routine syphilis screening. We selected specimens from a majority cohort of serofast participants with treated and active syphilis. We analyzed specimens with a 62-cytokine multiplex bead-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Cytokines, brain-derived neurotrophic factor and tumor necrosis factor β, were most predictive. We built a decision tree that was 82.4% accurate, 100% (95% confidence interval, 82%-100%) sensitive, and 45% (18%-75%) specific. Our decision tree differentiated between serum specimens from serofast participants with treated syphilis versus active syphilis. © The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved.

Instituciones: Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia; Universidad Privada San Juan Bautista