A New Specimen for Syphilis Diagnosis: Evidence by High Loads of Treponema pallidum DNA in Saliva (vol 73, pg e3250, 2021)

BACKGROUND:DNA from many pathogens can be detected in saliva. However, the presence and quantity of Treponema pallidum DNA in patients with syphilis in saliva is unknown. METHODS:234 patients with syphilis with different stages and 30 volunteers were enrolled. Paired saliva and plasma samples were collected from all participants. Consecutive saliva samples from 9 patients were collected every 4 hours following treatment. Treponema pallidum DNA in samples was determined by nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and droplet digital PCR targeting polA and Tpp47. RESULTS:Treponema pallidum DNA detection rates in saliva and plasma were 31.0% (9/29) and 51.7% (15/29) in primary syphilis (P = .11), 87.5% (63/72) and 61.1% (44/72) in secondary syphilis (P < .001), 25.6% (21/82) and 8.5% (7/82) in latent syphilis (P = .004), and 21.6% (11/51) and 5.9% (3/51) in symptomatic neurosyphilis (P = .021), respectively. Median (range) loads of Tpp47 and polA in saliva were 627 (0-101 200) and 726 (0-117 260) copies/mL, respectively, for patients with syphilis. In plasma, however, loads of Tpp47 and polA were low: medians (range) of 0 (0-149.6) and 0 (0-176) copies/mL, respectively. Loads of T. pallidum DNA in saliva during treatment fluctuated downward; the clearance time was positively correlated with the loads of T. pallidum DNA before treatment. CONCLUSIONS:Collection of saliva is noninvasive and convenient. The high loads of T. pallidum DNA in saliva and reduction after treatment indicated that saliva can be not only a diagnostic fluid for syphilis but also an indicator of therapeutic effectiveness.