CXCL13, CXCL10 and CXCL8 as Potential Biomarkers for the Diagnosis of Neurosyphilis Patients

Sci Rep. 2016 Sep 21:6:33569. doi: 10.1038/srep33569.

Abstract

At present, diagnosis for neurosyphilis remains a major clinical challenge. Venereal Disease Research Laboratory (VDRL) titer of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is suboptimally sensitive to diagnose neurosyphilis, which can be negative in neurosyphilis patients, especially in asymptomatic neurosyphilis patients. In the search for biomarkers of neurosyphilis, we investigated the chemokine profile in CSF of neurosyphilis patients and found that the concentrations of CXCL13, CXCL10 and CXCL8 were selectively elevated in neurosyphilis patients and correlated with CSF protein concentration and CSF-VDRL titer. After antibiotic treatment, the concentration of these chemokines was dramatically reduced. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) of CSF CXCL13, CXCL8,CXCL10 and the CSF/serum ratio of CXCL13, CXCL8,CXCL10 in the diagnosis of neurosyphilis were 0.940, 0.899, 0.915, 0.963, 0.846 and 0.926, respectively. The corresponding sensitivities/specificities of CSF CXCL13, CXCL8,CXCL10 and the CSF/serum ratio of CXCL13, CXCL8,CXCL10 in diagnosis of neurosyphilis were 85.4%/89.1%, 79%/90.1% and 79.6%/91.1%, 86.6%/99%, 79%/73.3% and 86%/92.1%, respectively. Our results suggest that the elevated concentrations of CXCL13, CXCL8, and CXCL10 or their increasing CSF/serum ratios may be potential biomarkers of neurosyphilis, particularly for asymptomatic neurosyphilis. Reduced concentration of these chemokines may indicate the prognosis of antibiotic therapy.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / therapeutic use
  • Biomarkers / blood
  • Biomarkers / cerebrospinal fluid
  • Case-Control Studies
  • Chemokine CXCL10 / blood
  • Chemokine CXCL10 / cerebrospinal fluid*
  • Chemokine CXCL13 / blood
  • Chemokine CXCL13 / cerebrospinal fluid*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Interleukin-8 / blood
  • Interleukin-8 / cerebrospinal fluid*
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Neurosyphilis / blood
  • Neurosyphilis / cerebrospinal fluid*
  • Neurosyphilis / diagnosis*
  • Neurosyphilis / drug therapy
  • Predictive Value of Tests
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Up-Regulation

Substances

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents
  • Biomarkers
  • CXCL10 protein, human
  • CXCL13 protein, human
  • CXCL8 protein, human
  • Chemokine CXCL10
  • Chemokine CXCL13
  • Interleukin-8