- Wassermann test
The Wassermann test is a
complement-fixation (Complement system )antibody test forsyphilis , named after the bacteriologistAugust von Wassermann .Method
A sample of
blood orcerebrospinal fluid is taken and introduced to the antigen -cardiolipin extracted from bovine muscle or heart. Syphilis-specific antibodies (reagines) react with thelipid - the Wassermann reaction of antiphospholipid antibodies (APAs). The intensity of the reaction (1, 2, 3, or 4) indicates the severity of the condition.Uncertainty
The reaction is not actually specific to syphilis and will produce a positive reaction to other diseases, including
malaria ,tuberculosis , and numerous other diseases. It is possible for an infected individual to produce no reaction and for a successfully treated individual to continue to produce a reaction (called Wassermann fast or fixed).Development and refinement
The antibody test was developed by Wassermann, Julius Citron, and
Albert Neisser at theRobert Koch Institute for Infectious Diseases in 1906. [WhoNamedIt|doctor|2511] [A Wassermann, A. Neisser and C. Bruck. Eine serodiagnostische Reaktion bei Syphilis. Deutsche medicinische Wochenschrift, Berlin, 1906, 32: 745-746. Announcing the test for syphilis.] The test was a growth from the work of Bordet and Gengou on complementing-fixation reaction, published in 1901, and the positive reaction is sometimes called the Bordet-Gengou-Wassermann reaction or Bordet-Wassermann reaction.The Wassermann test has been refined -
Kahn test ,Kolmer test - and it is rarely used today. Replacement tests (VDRL test, RPR test), initially based onflocculation techniques (Hinton), have been shown to produce far fewer false positive results. Indeed the "biologic false positives" of modern tests usually indicate a serious alternate condition, often an autoimmune disease.Citron, Dr. Julius, Immunity (English translation) 1914 163-164
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