The fluorescent antibody tissue stain for Treponema pallidum in the eye.

This is the first report of the fluorescent antibody tissue stain for Treponema pallidum in the eye. The fluorescent antibody (FA) technique was first described in 1942 by Coons as a means of identifying pneumococcal antigens in tissue. It has subse­ quently been applied to identification of other bacteria and their antigens." The fluorescent antibody technique was applied to syphilis by Deacon in 1957 as a serologie method and this led to the development of the fluorescent treponemal antibody ab­ sorbed (FTA-ABS) blood test for syphi­ lis." In 1962, Edwards applied the fluores­ cent antibody technique to smears from pri­ mary syphilitic lesions. The best histologie techniques heretofore available for demonstrating spirochetes in tissues have all incorporated variations of the silver staining method. Such stains are tech­ nically difficult, require large numbers of organisms for identification, and are non­ specific, that is, other tissue components stain with silver as well as tréponèmes. The need for a simple, consistent and specific stain for Treponema pallidum in tissue prompted Yobs to apply the fluorescent antibody technique to the histologie diag­ nosis of primary syphilis. Stimulated by her report, we have applied the technique to the tissue diagnosis in experimental ocular syphilis. This paper describes the fluores­ cent antibody tissue stain used to identify T. pallidum in the eye and documents its usefulness in experimental ocular syphilis.