Evaluation of serum cytokines to predict serofast in syphilis patients.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Syphilis serofast has been increasing in recent years and has resulted in a dramatic increase in medical expenses. However, there are not effective methods for serofast prediction in syphilis patients prior to treatment. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: The present study investigated novel serum biomarkers for the prediction of serofast in syphilis patients prior to treatment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Pre-treatment serum from patients with syphilis serofast and patients with syphilis serological cure were measured using antibody microarrays. The results generated from the antibody arrays were validated using ELISA. Healthy subjects were used as the controls. RESULTS: Compared to serologically cured patients, six cytokines (IL-17F, TNF RI, TNF RII, IL-16, OPN, and MCSFR) were significantly lower, while five factors (MCP-3, LIF, G-CSF, MIP-3a, and GH) were higher in serofast patients. ELISA validation was in-line with the results generated from antibody arrays. Of significance, these cytokines were firstly observed to the differentially expressed in pre-treatment serofast patient serum samples. CONCLUSIONS: The differentially expressed cytokines may be novel serum biomarkers for serofast prediction. These identified proteins play significant roles in the immune response, suggesting immune dysfunction may be the cause for syphilis serofast.