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Syphilis: using modern approaches to understand an old disease

2011; American Society for Clinical Investigation; Volume: 121; Issue: 12 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1172/jci57173

1558-8238

Emily Ho, Sheila A. Lukehart,

Reproductive tract infections research

Syphilis is a fascinating and perplexing infection, with protean clinical manifestations and both diagnostic and management ambiguities. Treponema pallidum subsp. pallidum, the agent of syphilis, is challenging to study in part because it cannot be cultured or genetically manipulated. Here, we review recent progress in the application of modern molecular techniques to understanding the biological basis of this multistage disease and to the development of new tools for diagnosis, for predicting efficacy of treatment with alternative antibiotics, and for studying the transmission of infection through population networks.