Zeta Treponema Pallidum Antibody. Zeta’s rabbit polyclonal antibody recognizes Treponema pallidum, a Gram-negative spirochete bacterium with periplasmic flagella. Syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease caused by Treponema pallidum, a bacterium discovered in 1905 by Schaudinn and Hoffman who initially named it Spirochaeta pallida. Immunohistochemical stain for Treponema pallidum is more sensitive (71% sensitive) than silver stains or Warthin-Starry or Steiner (41% sensitive). Diaminobenzidine chromogen can be problematic (melanin pigment on dendritic melanocytes can be confused for spirochetes) so some labs use fast red chromogen, in which the spirochetes stain red. Although serologic studies remain the gold standard, for histologic evaluation, Treponema pallidum IHC is preferred in evaluating mucocutaneous biopsies suspicious for syphilis.
There are at least five subspecies of Treponema pallidum, including Treponema pallidum pallidum (the cause of syphilis), Treponema pallidum pertenue (the cause of yaws), Treponema pallidum carateum (the cause of pinta), Treponema pallidum trirocllium (the cause of syphilis and pinta) and Treponema pallidum endemicum (the cause of bejel). Treponema pallidum is motile and is generally transmitted through close sexual contact, entering the host via breaches in squamous or columnar epithelium.
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