Syphilis bacterium

Treponema
Essa Sunaa
2110266
Introduction
• Syphilis is a chronic, systemic disease caused by a spirochete, Treponema
pallidum. Despite availability of sensitive diagnostic tests and effective
treatment, it remains a serious health problem. Syphilis has two routes of
transmission: (1) sexual transmission, which accounts for the vast majority
of cases, and (2) vertical transmission from mother to fetus in utero.
Congenital syphilis can lead to stillbirth, prematurity and to a variety of
clinical complications including central nervous system damage
Syphilis bacterium Treponema
Cause of disease:
Treponema pallidum is the bacterium that causes syphilis. Direct contact
with an infected person's sores during sexual activity, direct contact with
sores through kissing, cuts, abrasions, or wounds exposed to infected sores,
and transmission of infection from an infected mother to an unborn child
during pregnancy or childbirth are all possible causes of infection.
 Syphilis bacterium Treponema
• Primary
• During primary syphilis the local lesion called chancre, appear in the site of
infection. After bacteria entry, the microorganisms proliferate and
disseminate to distal organs. Bacteria are phagocyte by polymorph nuclear
cells (PMN) and dendritic cells that migrate to draining lymph nodes to
activate CD4+ the cells.

• Primary syphilis appears 10 to 90 days after exposure to the infection and

comprises a painless, indurated ulcer (chancre) at the site of inoculation
with the T. pallidum

• If you do not receive treatment for the initial stage of the illness, it could
develop into secondary syphilis in its second stage. If secondary syphilis is
left untreated, it will probably develop to the latent stage and may
potentially reach the tertiary stage.
• Secondary
• TPA expands from reservoirs with systematic affectation. A typical rash
appears in most cases. Anti-TPA humoral responses are mainly IgGs and
plasma cells are visible in the infiltrate of secondary cutaneous lesions.
CD8+ T-cells are more represented than CD4+ T-cells in lesion infiltrates

• Such as:
• Maculopapular rash on flank, shoulder, arm, chest, back, hands and soles
of feet; malaise, headache, generalized lymphadenopathy

• Less common: fever, anorexia, weight loss, mucous patches

• (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bd/
Secondary_Syphilis_on_palms_CDC_6809_lores.rsh.jpg/465px-
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Latent Asymptomatic
• The latent (hidden) stage of syphilis is a period when there are no visible signs or
symptoms of syphilis.

• Tertiary

• Tertiary syphilis affects deep organs like brain and heart. A Th1/Th2 switch
progressively occur and the immune response is down regulated by the presence of
regulatory T cells
•
• Cardiovascular syphilis Aortic aneurysm, aortic valvular insufficiency,
• Neurosyphilis
• infection that affects the coverings of the brain, the brain itself, or the
spinal cord
• Acute syphilitic meningitis
• involves inflammation of the tissues covering the brain and spinal cord
caused by this bacterial infection. Headache, meningeal irritation, ocular
involvement
• Meningovascular
• By inducing inflammation of your meninges arterial walls (endarteritis).
This causes thrombosis (when blood clots block veins or arteries) and
obstructs blood flow to brain tissue. Focal neurological deficits, cranial
nerve palsies
• Congenital syphilis
Results from transplacental transmission or contact with infectious lesions
during birth and can be acquired at any stage, causing stillbirth or neonatal
congenital infection. There are many presentations of congenital syphilis,
including nasal cartilage destruction (saddle nose), frontal bossing (Olympian
brow), Many of the neonates born with congenital syphilis are asymptomatic
at birt
• Bacterial adhesion
• T. pallidum adheres to epithelial surfaces, traverses the tissue barrier, and
then enters the tight junctions of endothelial cells to enter the
bloodstream. Widespread bacterial dissemination caused by Treponema
invasion pave a path for the formation of chronic infection.

• TRANSMISSION OF THE T.PALLIDUM

• Transmission occurs through unprotected sexual contact — when the skin
or mucous membranes of one sexual partner come into contact with a
chancre (a painless ulcer/lesion) located on another partner’s body
• Syphilis can also be transmitted from a pregnant woman to her fetus.
Called “congenital syphilis,
• References
•• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Sexually Transmitted Disease
Surveillance, 2021. Atlanta, GA: Department of Health and Human Services; April 11,
2023.

•• Akins, D. R., B. K. Purcell, M. M. Mitra, M. V. Norgard, and J. D. Radolf. 1993.

Lipid modification of the 17-kilodalton membrane immunogen of Treponema
pallidum determines macrophage activation as well as amphiphilicity. Infect. Immun.

•• Ghanem, Khalil G.; Hook, Edward W. (2020). "303. Syphilis". In Goldman, Lee;
Schafer, Andrew I. (eds.). Goldman-Cecil Medicine. Vol. 2 (26th ed.). Philadelphia:
Elsevier. pp. 1983–1989