Latex agglutination test for detecting antibodies to Treponema pallidum.

We have developed an automated latex agglutination test for Treponema pallidum (TPLA) for measurement of the concentration of treponemal antibodies in syphilitic sera. The assay needs neither a complicated pretreatment of the sera nor special techniques. Intra- and interassay precision studies showed high reproducibility. Potentially interfering substances, such as bilirubin, hemoglobin, triglycerides, and rheumatoid factor, did not affect the results. The results obtained with the TPLA test showed a strong correlation with those from conventional methods. This test for antibodies to T. pallidum may be useful for the mass screening of syphilitic infections.