Immune response to Treponema pertenue and Treponema pallidum Nichols in patients with yaws.

Human sera from African patients with acute yaws were analysed by Western blot (WB) against antigens of Treponema pallidum Nichols and two Treponema pertenue isolates. The Western blot patterns were remarkably similar from one patient to another, and strains of both subspecies exhibited exactly the same banding pattern. Sera from yaws patients failed to detect at least one antigen in T. pertenue which was absent from T. pallidum.